Britten-Norman Controls Its Destiny After New Investment | Aviation Week

Britten-Norman says a new round of investment has reshored Islander production after the company was forced into administration in March 2024. The manufacturer of the nine-seat Islander was acquired by private equity investors for just over £1 million (about $1.3 million), with a commitment to inject new funding. That funding has enabled the company to build the aircraft in-house from raw materials, including new computer-controlled machining, tooling and facilities. Britten-Norman now manufactures detail parts and assembles the airframe itself, giving it control over build sequence, tooling and quality gates. Avionics come from Garmin, engines from Lycoming and propellers from Hartzell. The firm aims for a production rate of eight aircraft a year and says it holds letters of intent for UK-built aircraft.