Page 53 - ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΑΕΡΟΠΟΡΙΚΗ ΒΙΟΜΗΧΑΝΙΑ - 50 ΧΡΟΝΙΑ | HELLENIC AEROSPACE INDUSTRY - 50 YEARS

certification for the general repair of C-130s. Fol- lowing personal communications by the president, HAI signed a contract with the French company Société Nationale d’Etudes et de Construction de Moteurs d’Aviation (SNECMA) to acquire the ca- pability to perform general repairs/inspections on Atar 9K50 engines and accessories, which were to power the Mirage F-1s aircrafts.
Subsequently, the first maintenance programs for the launch of the operational period were devel- oped, and the first Basic Agreement with the Hel- lenic Air Force was signed. the F-4s would be the first aircrafts scheduled for servicing in early 1979. the very first one, bearing the code SN-721503, successfully completed the general inspection in April 1979. the official inauguration ceremony took place on December 18. Prime Minister Kon- stantinos Karamanlis, accompanied by Minister of National Defense Evangelos Averoff, landed on the newly constructed runways of the Hellenic Air Force, where a large part of the leadership of the Hellenic Armed Forces, the political world, and the country’s diplomatic corps had been gathered. Speeches by officials followed, and then Prime Minister cut the ribbon, inaugurating the aircraft maintenance complex in Building 31.
the total cost for the work came to $270 mil- lion, well above the agreed $180 million. As for the financing of the project, the consortium undertook to finance 25% of the agreed amount with its own investments. In order to obtain the necessary re- sources, by 1981 the HAI management had taken out two large loans with City Bank of the USA and the Bank of Nova Scotia, worth $65 million and $100 million respectively.
the establishment and successful operation of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry in such a short pe- riod of time was a huge gamble, but also a tre- mendous success. this is especially true when one
considers the difficulties involved in a project that in- volved five large foreign companies, nine domestic manufacturing companies, and 23 different contrac- tors. However, these problems were to be expected in a project of this magnitude and were successfully overcome. As a result, the country acquired a large industrial infrastructure that significantly improved the autonomy of its armed forces, while also serving as a major hub for the introduction of cutting-edge technologies into the Greek industry.
Arrival of prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis at the official inauguration ceremony of the HAi complex on december 18, 1979 (© Hellenic Aerospace industry s.A.)
the establishment of HAI
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