Piaggio Aerospace today announced the official industrial cooperation agreement with UTVA Avio Industrija offering a “marry-up jig” for the final Piaggio Aerospace assembly line Villanova d'Albenga – Italy, which was launched last November. UTVA Avio Industrija will be responsible for the production, installation and quality control of the marry-up jig, the final station of the assembly line where all the major sections of an aircraft fuselage are aligned and put together.

Piaggio Aerospace will have two marry-up jigs available, with the addition of the jig produced by UTVA. One will be fully dedicated to military aircrafts and the other to business aviation planes. This expansion is a positive result the company's growing commient to defense and security.

The UTVA jig will be produced in compliance with the existing one by means of a “reverse engineering” activity. Its installation and delivery are expected to be complete by the end of June 2015.

UTVA Avio Industrija was selected after a rigorous tender process that included the participation of a number of local Italian and international players. The quality of UTVA's bid was outstanding, and the team showed unparalleled eagerness and commitment to partner with Piaggio aerospace.

Located in Pančevo, close to Belgrade, UTVA Avio Industrija was established in 1937 and is one of the oldest Yugoslav gliders and aircraft manufacturers. Today UTVA is the only player in the aviation industry of Serbia and Montenegro. The company's workforce is well versed and qualified, and deploys CAD/CAM systems and CNC controlled machines for design, manufacturing and testing of aircraft and equipment for the aircraft manufacturing industry.