Reorganization of the insolvent aircraft engine manufacturer "Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH" is progressing. With the newly established "CENTURION Aircraft Engines AG & Co. KG" (CENTURION) insolvency administrator Bruno M. Kübler transferred the company's operative new business to a company that is unaffected by the insolvency proceedings. CENTURION will be responsible for global sales of CENTURION diesel engines and spare parts. This was announced today by Kübler at a press conference at the start of AERO, the international aviation trade exhibition in Friedrichshafen.

With the establishment of the new company Kübler is responding to the growing demand in the business with replacement and reequipped engines for Diamond, Robin, Piper and Cessna airplanes in the sphere of general aviation. "CENTURION can quickly establish itself on the market without the burden of the insolvency stigma," stressed Kübler. "At the same time, end customers will be provided with a high measure of security."

The chairman of the board of the new company is Jasper M. Wolffson, formerly sales director at Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH. "The establishment of CENTURION represents a crucial step toward development of our leading market position," commented Wolffson. "When it comes to experience and technology, we continue to have a great advantage over the competition: With permits and various STCs for our CENTURION engines 1.7, 2.0 and the CENTURION 4.0 and as an independent engine manufacturer we are able to supply a broad range of customers both in the retrofit and in the OEM business. We want to develop this leading position and now take the offensive in sales as well."

As a result of its greater weight and dimensions the AE 300 engine recently certified by Diamond is, compared with CENTURION engines, basically only suited as a drive for the DA 42 NG, a model which was specially developed for it. The more than 2,000 CENTURION engines in operation have to date completed more than 1.5 million flying hours in Diamond, Piper, Robin and Cessna machines.

An extended warranty for CENTURION end customers is also connected with establishment of the new company: It will be uniformly fixed for two years for all newly manufactured CENTURION engines and spare parts and issued directly to end customers. The warranty will apply independently of whether the end customer purchased the engine through CENTURION distributors, CENTURION service centers or airplane manufacturers. "This represents clear progress, particularly in the latter case, and also provides relief to both distributors and service centers," said Wolffson. As was previously the case warranties will be processed via CENTURION service centers.

Furthermore, end customers who buy a newly manufactured CENTURION 2.0 engine in the future will receive a one-time free transmission and clutch after 300 hours of operation for a further 300 hours of operation in addition. To this end customers receive a coupon with their purchase which they can redeem at one of the more than 285 authorized CENTURION service centers worldwide. The offer applies both to newly manufactured reequipped engines and to retrofits as well as for engines supplied by CENTURION in newly purchased airplanes. In this manner the economical effect of the desired extension of operation is anticipated on 600 hours. The clutches and transmissions with 600 hours operation time will presumably be on the market toward the end of the year.

A further focus of CENTURION is to make operation of CENTURION engines more economical for the customers. For this purpose the development team of THIELERT Aircraft Engines under the direction of Prof. Kappler is working in close cooperation with various institutes and universities on further development of the engines.

"With the experience of 1.5 million flying hours, continued technical development of the engines and its comprehensive certification, CENTURION has the best prerequisites for maintaining and expanding its competitive advantage," the CENTURION chairman pointed out. "And, there is the also fact that we have a broad basis: We are capable of series delivery, have various STC for retrofits and with customers in the military sphere we have a further important field of business. In this manner we are in a position to generate the financial resources required for constant further development of the engines based on our own strength and commercial expertise."

Insolvency administrator Kübler emphasized that the company succeeded in quickly stabilizing business operations – something that is particularly crucial with regard to the process of seeking an investor. "TAE is basically a healthy company – and TAE can even become completely healthy to the core," stressed Kübler. However, general aviation has been hit hard by the economic crisis. In actuality all of the airplane companies have suffered a serious decline in sales. Kübler continued: "For this reason unforeseeable delays have occurred in the process to find an investor." Nevertheless, Kübler is still conducting negotiations with several prospective investors. "Owing to the company's solid figures we are not under pressure to make a quick sell. The goal is not the fastest possible, but the best possible sale." This means that he will only sell TAE to a suitable investor who is willing to take the interests of the creditors, the employees and the customers into equal consideration.