L-410 assembly line construction begins in Yekaterinburg

UWCA to produce up to 12 L-410s annually by 2019 (Photo by Aircraft Industries)

Yekaterinburg-based Ural Works of Civil Aviation (UWCA), part of Oboronprom, has launched construction of a new production facility that produces Czech regional turboprops, the L-410UVP-E20. The project should be completed in 2017, and the company is expecting to build the first six aircraft that same year, the plant’s general director Vadim Badekha told Interfax newswire. Out of the 1 billion ruble investment, UWCA will contribute 30%. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is expected to allocate subsidies for the project, with the first allocation to take place this year.

The new facility will be capable of producing 12 aircraft per year, starting in 2019. Eventually, the number may be increased to 20 aircraft.

In the future, over 50% of all L-410 production is expected to be localized in Russia, primarily in terms of avionics and engine replacement, which constitutes up to 40% of the aircraft’s total cost, Badekha said. Production of Russian-made undercarriage for the L-410 is slated to begin next year. Certain components of the aircraft are already being built in Russia.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency’s data, 27 L-410s were operated by nine airlines at the end of February 2016.

The agreement to launch L-410 production in Russia was signed by the UWCA and Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), the 100% owner of the Czech-based Aircraft Industries, in the summer of last year. The project is part if a larger set-up, according to which UWCA is to become the resident of the Titanium Valley special economic zone. Apart from the Czech turboprops, the zone will house assembly lines of Bell Helicopter and Airbus Helicopters models for the Russian market. The whole complex should assemble up to 500 aircraft by 2031.