Aerostar Bacău invests 2.6m euros to cover orders despite crisis

Aerostar Bacău (ARS), a company producing and providing maintenance services for military and civil aircraft, is set to invest 11m RON (2.6m euros) in an hangar to be used for aircraft maintenance so that it can cover the orders received on this segment, according to the company’s representatives.

Aerostar will thus exceed the investment volume projected at the start of the year, of 8.8m RON (2m euros).

Aerostar management says the civil aviation industry is thawing up, after having been seriously hurt last year.

“The civil aircraft segment is faring better than the military aircraft one. The crisis hurt this segment as well through a contraction in 2009 and partially in 2010, but our hopes are the market will pick up,” says Doru Damaschin, chief financial officer with Aerostar.

Despite the significantly lower orders from the Defence Ministry, the company has managed to seal contracts with foreign partners and thus keep its turnover at the same level or even boost it during the crisis.

In the first six months of 2010, Aerostar saw its turnover go up by 14.6%, to 70.4m RON (16.6m euros), while its income rose during the same period by 44%, to 1.9m RON (around 460,000 euros).