Slovenia-based light aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel, part of the Textron eAviation business unit of US aerospace group Textron, has appointed South African company Absolute Aviation as its distributor for Southern and Central Africa. Absolute Aviation is based at Lanseria International Airport, which lies northwest of Johannesburg and southwest of Pretoria.

The South African company will demonstrate, distribute, and provide service support for Pipistrel’s range of ultralight, light sport and type certified aircraft types, including the Alpha Trainer, Velis Electro, Explorer and Panthera. It will also provide customers with training. Absolute Aviation’s Pipistrel distribution mandate covers 11 African countries, namely Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as South Africa.

While the name Textron might not be that well known, its aviation businesses are certainly globally renowned. In addition to Pipistrel, they are aircraft manufacturers Bell (helicopters), Beechcraft, Cessna and propulsion company Lycoming Engines. Absolute Aviation has a long-existing relationship with Textron and is the Southern and Central African representative for the Beechcraft and Cessna business units, undertaking sales, service and parts supply.

“We’re fully committed to building our network of distributors so that we can precisely meet the needs of our customers across Africa,” highlighted Pipistrel sales and marketing director Steve Mckenna. “As an established Textron Aviation channel partner, Absolute Aviation’s customer-centric approach is well known to us and we’re looking forward to extending this collaboration to showcase Pipistrel.”

“Extending our relationship with Textron to include Pipistrel underlines the trust we have developed and the success we have delivered,” pointed out Absolute Aviation CEO Neil Howard. “We are committed to building on this track record for Pipistrel in the fast-growing African market.”

Of the Pipistrel aircraft that Absolute Aviation will market and support, the two-seat Velis Electro is the world’s first electric-power aircraft to receive type certification.