Pipistrel with best business year so far despite pandemic

Ajdovščina – The Ajdovščina-based ultralight aircraft maker Pipistrel did great last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The company saw best financial results so far, Pipistrel director and co-owner Ivo Boscarol has told the STA. The 2020 net profit will be used for numerous new investments this year, including in China, he announced.

Pipistrel posted EUR 32 million in total revenue last year with record high net profit of EUR 4.5 million, up by 37% on 2019, Boscarol said.

The company employed additional eight workers in 2020 and plans to recruit between 30 and 40 engineers for its development segment this year due to the expanded manufacturing capacities and volume of work.

Boscarol believes that going down the path of making carbon-neutral or electric aircraft was the right choice.

Unlike its competitors, Pipistrel has not faced any decline in orders, on the contrary, all of its 2021 manufacturing capacities have been already sold, he said, adding that the company was now brainstorming how to double its capacities if needed.

Another goal is to step up projects for its foreign clients, including efforts to develop vertical landing and taking-off aircraft and enable greater speed, he said.

This year will again see a lot of investments. The company plans to complete the construction of a facility in Italy’s Gorizia as well as wrap up the upgrade of a plant in Vipava in western Slovenia. Moreover, production is expected to be launched in a new subsidiary in China in 2021 as well.

“I expect that the company will get quite a major business deal in China as well which is expected to start at the end of this year and then continue for quite a few years,” Boscarol said.

The pandemic did not affect Pipistrel operations in Italy either. There were no difficulties with work permits since the aviation industry was exempted from restrictions as a strategic activity.

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