Mahindra and Mahindra : Aerospace & Canada’s Viking Air Ltd to form strategic alliance to help boost India's regional air connectivity

Mumbai, 23 February, 2018: Mahindra Aerospace Private Limited [Mahindra Aerospace] and Canada's Viking Air Ltd [Viking] have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a strategic alliance to support and take advantage of India's growing regional air connectivity opportunities. The MOU was signed during the on-going visit of Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Justin Trudeau, to India.

India's diverse market landscape offers numerous options for Viking and Mahindra Aerospace to leverage their unique and complementary resources for a mutually beneficial collaboration to develop regional air transportation solutions.

Under this alliance, Mahindra Aerospace and Viking will work together to support each other's non-competing aircraft business to boost market penetration in identified territories and provide potential customers with multiple options based on specific operational requirements.

Viking produces the Twin Otter Series 400, a world-renowned, versatile, 19-passenger, twin-engine utility turboprop aircraft that is capable of operating from multiple surfaces (including water). Mahindra Aerospace produces the 8-seat utility piston aircraft, the Mahindra Airvan 8, and the 10-seat turboprop utility aircraft, the Mahindra Airvan 10 and will in due course also launch these aircraft in Ski and Float versions The combined range of the 8-, 10- and 19-seat wheeled and float-equipped aircraft offered by Viking and Mahindra Aerospace provides several solutions especially well-suited to India's varied geography, operating conditions, and regional connectivity requirements.

Mr. SP Shukla, Group President - Aerospace, Defence and Steel, Mahindra Group and Chairman- Mahindra Aerospace said, 'We value our alliance with Viking and are confident that the Viking Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft and our 8- and 10-seat Mahindra Airvan will offer a unique product portfolio to customers across various geographies. In India, this portfolio can address the much needed requirements of regional connectivity, where this range of aircraft offers a very suitable solution and desired boost to the UDAN scheme introduced by the Government of India.'

Mr. David Curtis, President & CEO of Viking Air Ltd., commented, 'Viking sees enormous market potential for the Series 400 Twin Otter in India, with a particular emphasis on the seaplane variant as it provides an unmatched transportation solution for servicing India's thousands of kilometers of coastline and river systems. We are confident that our alliance with Mahindra Group, such a well-established and well-regarded company, will provide the necessary traction the Series 400 deserves in India and will offer us new possibilities to collaborate in other territories as well.'

Mr. Arvind Mehra, Executive Director & CEO, Mahindra Aerospace said, 'Viking and Mahindra Aerospace have a natural fit when it comes to the supplying utility aircraft in point-to-point connectivity. These products complement each other well and offer our customers a wide choice depending on the size and scale of their operations. We are sure this is just a beginning and can open up many other opportunities for collaboration, including product development and support.'

About Viking Air Ltd.

Headquartered in Victoria, BC, Canada, Viking is the global leader in utility aircraft services, and the manufacturer of the world-renowned Series 400 Twin Otter. Viking is the Original Type Certificate holder for all out-of-production de Havilland Canada aircraft, DHC-1 through the DHC-7, and provides exclusive spare parts manufacturing and product support for the legacy de Havilland fleet. In 2007, Viking launched the Twin Otter Series 400 production program, and to date new Viking aircraft have sold to 30 countries worldwide.

In 2016, Viking acquired the Type Certificates (manufacturing rights) for the Canadair CL-215, CL-215T, and CL-415 aircraft. With this transfer, Viking assumed responsibility for all product support for the global fleet of 170 aerial firefighters.

Viking is managed by Longview Aviation Capital and forms part of the portfolio of a prominent Canadian family investment firm that maintains a long-term investment horizon and is one of the leading investors in the Canadian aviation industry. For more information, visit www.vikingair.com.

About Mahindra Aerospace

Mahindra Aerospace has led the Mahindra Group's foray into utility aircraft and aerostructure manufacturing. Its utility aircraft business, based in Australia, currently produces the Airvan 8, the most capable, rugged and versatile utility aircraft in its class. Certified in many countries, over 240 are in service. Mahindra Aerospace has also developed a next-gen 10-seat turboprop, the Airvan 10, which has been Type Certified in the USA and Australia. Mahindra Aerospace also operates an aerostructures manufacturing business, based at Bengaluru, which produces aircraft parts, components & sub-assemblies for supply directly to global OEMs and their leading suppliers.

About Mahindra

The Mahindra Group is a USD 19 billion federation of companies that enables people to rise through innovative mobility solutions, driving rural prosperity, enhancing urban living, nurturing new businesses and fostering communities. It enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership in India and is the world's largest tractor company, by volume. It also enjoys a strong presence in agribusiness, aerospace, commercial vehicles, components, defense, logistics, real estate, renewable energy, speedboats and steel, amongst other businesses. Headquartered in India, Mahindra employs over 2,400,000 people across 100 countries.

Learn more about Mahindra on www.mahindra.com / Twitter and Facebook: @MahindraRise

For further enquiries please contact:

Mahindra Aerospace:
Shubhada Dharwadkar,
Group Communications,
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
Phone: +91 22 2490 1441
Email: dharwadkar.shubhada@mahindra.com

Viking Air Ltd.:
Angela Murray,
Corporate Communications,
Viking Air Ltd.,
Phone: +1.250.656.7227
Email: angie.murray@vikingair.com