Diamond deal for Hawker Pacific

Leading aircraft sales and services company, Hawker Pacific, has signed an agreement with the University of New South Wales to provide 7 Diamond aircraft for its Aviation Department known as UNSW Aviation.

Under the agreement, which is worth close to US$3 million, Hawker Pacific will supply six new Diamond DA-40 single engine four seater and one DA42L360 twin engine aircraft to the University and maintain the aircraft for a period of 5 years.

The aircraft are expected to be delivered during the first quarter 2010 and housed at the UNSW Aviation facilities at Bankstown.

The six DA-40s will be powered by the Lycoming IO-360-M1A Av Gas engine and the DA42L360, by two counter-rotating Lycoming IO-360 (180hp) power plants.

Tony Jones, Hawker Pacific’s Senior Vice President, Aircraft Sales & Flight Services Group, said: “Selection of the DA40 and DA42L360 by the University of New South Wales for its aviation training fleet was made after an extensive evaluation of the faculty’s future training needs and the aircraft that would best meet those needs. These two aircraft clearly stood out as offering the best value solution for both the short and long term.”

With a base price of around US$260,000, the Diamond DA40 is an outstanding low entry-level state of the art aircraft for flying school operators. It is extremely well equipped, carries leading edge technology and offers a high level of the economy, safety and performance.

Mr Brian Horton, Director of Flight Operations at the UNSW Department of Aviation (known as UNSW Aviation), said: “These aeroplanes will provide our students with one of the world’s best training environments, consistent with our objective of being the leading aviation university in the Australasian region.”

“Hawker Pacific have not only worked with us in selecting the most appropriate aircraft for our training requirements but have structured a maintenance package tailored specifically to our requirements over the next five years,” Mr Horton said.