Türkiye's 1st aircraft factory set for multimillion-dollar revival

ANKARA

Türkiye's first aircraft factory, TOMTAS Aviation and Technology, will be revived in the country's central Anatolian province Kayseri with an investment of some 205 million liras ($8.6 million) to produce aircraft and helicopter parts.

According to information obtained by Anadolu, TOMTAS’s revived factory is set to make a major contribution to the country's aviation sector.

Main assembly parts such as the fuselage, wings, doors, control surfaces, landing gear, propellers, helicopter rotors and engine parts will be produced at TOMTAS Aerospace, which was established by defense firm ASFAT, Erciyes Technopark, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), and the TOMTAS Investment Partnership.

The new facility will have an annual production capacity of 420,000 kilograms (about 926,000 pounds).

For the facility, machinery, and equipment worth $10.2 million will be imported.

When the factory goes live, 50 people are expected to be employed.

Milestone in Turkish aviation industry

The history of TOMTAS Aviation and Technology dates back to the 1920s.

After the establishment of the Turkish Aircraft Society in 1925, action was taken to establish an aircraft factory.

In light of the needs in terms of capital and technical personnel, a partnership was established with the German company Junkers.

The official opening of Tayyare (Plane) and Motor (Engine) Turk AS (TOMTAS) was held in 1926.

Some of the equipment and personnel of the factory were brought in from Germany.

The factory did assembly and production of some parts of aircraft patented by Junkers.

The partnership was cut short in 1928 due to the wage difference between the German and Turkish workers and the German company's failure to fulfill its obligations under the agreement.

The shares of Junkers were transferred to the Turkish Aircraft Society.

TOMTAS was reopened in 1931 under the name the Kayseri Aircraft Factory.

This factory, after going through various changes, has turned into today's Kayseri Air Supply and Maintenance Center Command.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun