Portuguese aircraft factory already in licensing phase in Ponte de Sor. Construction set to begin this year
The Ponte de Sor City Council has already received the licence application for the factory where the Portuguese light aircraft will be produced. It is expected to create between 150 and 300 jobs.
The consortium has already submitted the licence application for the assembly plant for the LUS-222, the Portuguese civil and military aircraft, to the Ponte de Sor Municipal Council. The project could create up to 300 direct jobs.
‘The licence application for the aircraft factory is already with the council and is being approved by the municipal services,’ Rogério Alves, vice-president of the Ponte de Sor local authority, told ECO. ‘We expect construction to start by the end of the year,’ he added.
The LUS-222 is a twin-engine high-wing aircraft for passenger or cargo transport, designed by the Portuguese company Aircraft and Maintenance, the Centre for Engineering and Product Development (CEiiA), the Portuguese Air Force and Geosat.
The factory, which will occupy a covered area of 18,000 square metres, will create between 150 and 300 direct jobs at the Ponte de Sor aerodrome, depending on whether there are one or two shifts, explains Rogério Alves. The latest figures point to a total investment of €220 million. The factory alone will cost more than €30 million.
‘Portugal will become a final integrator for aircraft assembly. Few countries do this. The project will bring a completely different level of development to aeronautics in Portugal,’ anticipates the vice-president of the Ponte de Sor Municipal Council, who hopes that some suppliers will set up in the Alentejo region.
Part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan’s (RRP) Aero.Next mobilisation agenda, the project was one of those targeted by the reprogramming agreed last week by the Government, with the strengthening of the military component and greater involvement of the Air Force.
“The Air Force joined the project because it saw the needs [of the market] and also because it could adapt the aircraft to carry out certain fundamental missions, namely, first and foremost, supporting the preservation of life in aeromedical evacuations, search and rescue, transport and cargo, and cargo delivery to places where there is a need and it is impossible to land,” explained João Cartaxo Alves, Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Air Force, in statements to Lusa in April.
The aircraft will have the capacity to carry 2,700 kilograms of cargo or 19 passengers and has a rear ramp. It will be able to provide logistical transport, be used in civil or military government missions or in regional transport, for example between islands, according to the Aero.Next website. Series production is scheduled to start in 2028.
Around 100 engineers from the Évora Science and Technology Park are also participating in the project.
The Aero. Next agenda also includes the development and production of an unmanned aircraft for surveillance and monitoring operations, led by Tekever, a drone for transporting goods in medical emergencies, led by Eliot, a drone for aircraft maintenance work, a project led by Aeromec, and a solution for the rapid prototyping of aircraft parts, led by LauaK.
According to the RRP’s ‘Mais Transparência’ (More Transparency) portal, €49.7 million of a total of €90.84 million has already been paid out. The main beneficiaries are CEIIA, with €34.52 million in funding, EEA – Aircraft and Maintenance, with €15.5 million, and Tekever, with €18.5 million, but distributed among three different companies.