Saudi Arabia plans to begin building a plant for assembling An-132 multi-purpose aircraft in 2019. Serial assembly of the aircraft at the plant will be launched in 2021, the CFTS reports.
"TAQNIA Aeronautics and the Antonov state enterprise are working on a feasibility study for construction of an aircraft plant with the participation of Western experts. Construction of the plant is scheduled to begin in 2019. The construction period will be nine months, and serial assembly of the An-132 should be launched in 2021," Antonov said in a statement.
Antonov’s Saudi partners plan to build a technological park in the city of Taif, 100 kilometers from Mecca. The technological park will consist of an industrial zone, a university campus, residential quarters with 10,000 premises, and an international airport. The technological park’s industrial zone will include an aircraft plant with its own airfield, a solar cell manufacturing plant, and a solar power plant.
As reported, the Antonov state aircraft manufacturing enterprise, TAQNIA Aeronautics (Saudi Arabia), and the Wahaj company have signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding on production An-132 aircraft. According to the document, the initial batch of serially produced An-132 transport aircraft will be built at Antonov’s facilities in cooperation with TAQNIA and Wahaj. In the future, the An-132 aircraft will be manufactured in Saudi Arabia.
