Grob SPn thrown Survival lifeline

The Grob SPn light business jet may yet still survive, having been given a lifeline by the company's lead creditor to acquire the business jet part of the business from the company's administrator as part of the assets of Grob Aerospace.

The core business of the Zurich, Switzerland-headquartered company - the production and maintenance of light training aircraft - has been snapped up, as expected, by Germany's H3, which will run the operation from 1 February under the trade name Grob Aircraft.

"For now [H3] will continue the former core business, which is the production and the maintenance of the light training aircraft," says the administrator Michael Jaffe. "This is how we can save Tussenhausen-Mattsies as a basis for aircraft production and thus save the Grob know-how, which has been developed over decades and save about 100 jobs - but there is a clear option for further growth," he says.

Tussenhausen-Mattsies is the manufacturing base just north of Munich where the Grob jet was conceived and built.

Grob was forced to file for insolvency in Germany last August after the company's loan provider withdrew its backing. He blamed delays in the SPn programme - including the fatal crash in November 2006 of the second prototype - that had resulted in the increased requirement for cash to see the programme through to certification. The fourth test aircraft had made a successful maiden flight earlier that month and certification was earmarked for the end of 2008.