Pipistrel, a Textron company, is bolstering its African sales network with the appointment of Absolute Aviation, headquartered at Lanseria International airport in South Africa, as its distributor to 11 countries across southern and central Africa.
Already a longstanding channel partner of Textron Aviation as an authorised sales, service and parts representative for Cessna and Beechcraft in southern and central Africa, Absolute Aviation will take on responsibility for sales, service support and training for Pipistrel’s ultralight, light sport and type certified aircraft, which include the Alpha Trainer, Velis Electro, Explorer and Panthera.
Absolute Aviation will also showcase demonstration aircraft across the region to promote Pipistrel’s offerings.Absolute Aviation will serve Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“We are fully committed to building our network of distributors so that we can precisely meet the needs of our customers across Africa,” says Steve Mckenna, director of sales and marketing at Pipistrel.
“As an established Textron Aviation channel partner, Absolute Aviation’s customer-centric approach is well known to us and we look forward to extending this collaboration to showcase Pipistrel.”
Absolute Aviation CEO Neil Howard added: “Extending our relationship with Textron to include Pipistrel underlines the trust we have developed and the success we have delivered. We are committed to building on this track record for Pipistrel in the fast-growing African market.”
In 2020, Pipistrel’s Velis Electro became the world’s first electric aircraft to receive full type-certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). This achievement followed a series of electric aircraft introductions since the company began research and development of electric propulsion in 2000.
Pipistrel’s pioneering work has been recognised through awards from NASA, IDC, and other organizations. The company, which offers a family of gliders and light aircraft with both electric and combustion engines, has delivered more than 2,500 light aircraft worldwide since its founding in 1989.
The appointment of Absolute Aviation follows Pipistrel’s expansion of its distribution network in key regions across the globe. Most recently, Pipistrel appointed Lincoln Park Aviation (LPA) as its distributor for 15 US states and Lanier Flight Center as its distributor for five US states.
