Funding to completely manufacture the Spectrum Aeronautical S-40 aircraft in Mexico is nearing completion, and the aerospace manufacturer is planning to have all funding secured by the end of June to begin production on the fully Mexican manufactured aircraft.

The Freedom S-40

While Mexico’s aerospace industry is already well established, the Freedom S-40 business jet is set to be the First fully Mexican manufactured aircraft from start to finish . A total investment of $300 million USD is needed to fund the aircraft from development certification into service. Equity investors from the US and Mexico are fronting much of the capital with additional loans being offered through Mexican bank, Bancomext. Company representatives are confident full funding will be in place by the end of June, and are hoping to break ground on the plant later this year.

Plans for the S-40 are frozen, and tooling will be built this summer. The plane is designed to seat up to nine passengers in a carbon-fiber cabin that stands 5.9 feet tall, cruising up to 2,250 nautical miles and with a maximum altitude of 45,000 feet. It will be propelled by two GE Honda HF120 turbofan engines. It is expected to cost half as much to own and use half as much fuel as comparably sized business jets.

Choosing Mexico

Mexicali in https://www.tecma.com/locations/tecma-tijuana-and-baja-california/Mexico’s Baja California, just south of the US border will be the location for the manufacturing facilities and flight center of the first fully Mexican manufactured aircraft . Based in San Diego, California, Spectrum says they chose the Mexican site because of the large pool of highly skilled workers in the area in addition to the proximity to extensive industrial aerospace infrastructure in southern California.

With over 250 aerospace manufacturing companies active in the country, Mexico is home to a well-established aerospace manufacturing sector, and it comes as no surprise that Spectrum will be joining the family of aircraft manufacturers already in the area – manufacturers like:

  • US’s Hawker Beechcraft
  • France’s Safran Group
  • Canada’s Bombardier Aerospace
  • Netherlands’ Fokker
  • Spain’s Aernnova
  • Brazil’s Embraer

Within the past decade, the aerospace industry in Mexico has reached a compounded annual growth rate of over 15%. Mexico is encouraging further aerospace investment in the area by offering an attractive incentive package. Aviation exports are now well over $5 billion USD and climbing.