Italian Authorities Approve New Ownership For Piaggio

Baykar, a Turkish aviation company specializing in unmanned aircraft, has received approval from the Italian Ministry of Enterprises to acquire Piaggio Aerospace, manufacturer of the P.180 Avanti turboprop pusher twin. Piaggio’s corporate lineage dates back to 1884 as an early motor vehicle manufacturer. The company produced its first aircraft in 1915.

Since the development of the Avanti in the 1980s, Piaggio’s ownership has seen a long string of changes, starting in 1998 with another Turkish business entity, a holding company known as Tushav. Piaggio was acquired two years later by a group headed by Jose DiMasi and Piero Ferrari of the famous Italian carmaker family. Control shifted to Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development company, and in 2018, Piaggio entered Italian receivership with the proceedings to be controlled by an Extraordinary Commissioner. In 2020, the company was officially listed for sale with final approval of a buyer to be overseen by the appointed commissioner

While Baykar notes the acquisition will “expand its influence in the European aviation market,” the company also indicates a commitment to retaining Piaggio as an Italian company. Italian Minister Adolfo Urso said, “After six years of waiting, we are giving Piaggio Aerospace, a strategic asset for our country, a future with a long-term production perspective, safeguarding corporate complexes and workforce.”

Of note from the perspective of Baykar, Piaggio devoted significant resources to developing the P.1HH “Hammerhead” starting in 2013, an unmanned special-missions derivative of the P.180 Avanti for long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The “Hammerhead” name is a reference to the basic Avanti design, which includes a small forward wing, sometimes incorrectly called a “canard.” The Avanti’s is technically a “three-surface” configuration. The forward wing is technically not a canard since, unlike canard aircraft such as the Rutan LongEze, pitch control is achieved primarily through normal tail-mounted surfaces.