Finmeccanica, billion dollar contract

Rome - The same day that the Board of Directors of Finmeccanica was informed by Mauro Moretti of the “advanced progress” of the sale of the railroad business, and was invited to “continue negotiations” with Hitachi (while Insigma is working together with Xinzhu to get back on track with a competing proposal to the Japanese), Piazza Monte Grappa announced an aerospace mega contract for a billion dollars. The ATR joint venture between Alenia Aermacchi, a Finmeccanica subsidiary, and Airbus, signed a contract with the Indonesian airline Lion Air. The contract was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and CEO Mauro Moretti at the Presidency of the Council. The signatories were Patrick de Castel Bajac, CEO of ATR and Rusdi Kirana, president of Lion Group. The contract is for the supply of 40 ATR 72-600 airplanes. It is the largest contract of ATR aircraft in 20 years. Under the agreement, which is being financed by Sace, deliveries will begin in January 2016 and will continue until December 2018. The new aircraft will be added to the 60 ATR 72 already bought by the Indonesian company since 2008.

According to Renzi, the agreement is an important “sign of hope,” because it “continues the consolidation of Finmeccanica and is a small significant step that demonstrates that Italian industry is not only the past, but also the future.” “The ATR joint venture,” says Moretti, “is a clear example of how cooperation among the major European aeronautic industries allows the creation of high-level technological products and systems, which can compete successfully on an international scale, among increasingly aggressive competitors. “Finmeccanica,” adds the manager,“ believes strongly in the ATR programme, the quality of products and in their commercial potential. All these factors will enable the joint venture between Italy and France to be the leader in its market sector”. In 2014, ATR has sold “155 aircraft” against a target for the year of “90 aircraft”. “The historical record is 157, we hope to exceed it,” says CEO, de Castel Bajac. “The backlog includes 300 fixed orders and 100 options, for a total of 400 aircraft, which correspond to more than four years of production.” “The Italian aeronautic industry shows that the South can do things right, if they are related to long-term projects and with investments in products that work well on the market,” says the CEO of Alenia Aeronautica, Giuseppe Giordo.