A NEW group of European aircraft manufacturers is in discussion with Chinese and South Korean officials in a bid to jointly develop a new family of commercial jets, says a company spokesman.
The joint-venture, Aero International Regional (AIR), formed last month, is waiting for clearance by European and United States anti-trust regulators and aims to be formally set up by January 1.
A spokesman for Italy's Alenia, one of the three AIR partners, said that while waiting for approval, expected later in the year, the company was studying plans to launch a new family of aircraft in Asia.
'We are talking with the Chinese and the South Koreans and with many others who may help us,' the spokesman said. 'Studies are going on to see if there is a market for a new 100-seat family of turbojet or turboprop aircraft.
'Right now we think there is a market and Asia is certainly one we are looking at very closely.' AIR is a joint venture between France's Aerospatiale, Alenia and British Aerospace. Each controls a third of the company.
It is to be based in Toulouse, southern France, with a logistics centre in Weybridge, England, and a training centre in Naples, Italy.
The three aircraft manufacturers said the company would begin by merging the marketing, sales and customer support activities of ATR, Avro and Jetstream into a single organisation offering a full range of regional aircraft.
