BANKERS CAPITAL SIGNED A LETTER OF INTENT WITH ISRAEL AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES FOR PURCHASE OF TAXIBOT AIRCRAFT TOWING UNITS WORTH $97 MILLION

Bankers Capital Transportation Leasing Group plans to purchase from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) dozens of Narrow Body (NB) and Wide Body TaxiBot Aircraft Towing systems to be operated in North America. A letter of intent regarding the $97 million deal was signed at the Farnborough International Airshow last week.

Bankers Capital is the launch customer for providing the TaxiBot services to airlines and airports. Delivery of the TaxiBots is planned to begin by the last quarter of 2013 and continue until 2015. Bankers Capital and IAI are preparing for the establishment of an operational testing site for the NB TaxiBot in North America by the end of 2013, based on discussions with some leading US airlines.

The TaxiBot proof of concept was demonstrated during testing last year on the Airbus A340-600 and Boeing B747-400 under the auspices of Airbus and Lufthansa Leos. TaxiBot is the first successful hybrid diesel electric vehicle which enables an airplane to taxi from the gate to the runway without its engines running.

Yehoshua (Shuki) Eldar, IAI’s Corporate VP, Business Development and Subsidiaries, said:
“We congratulate our first launch customer Bankers Capital and consider this to be an important landmark in the introduction of the TaxiBot into the North American market. Introducing a new technology to the aviation world is a challenging mission and we are committed to support our customers in order to ensure that this breakthrough technology will become a great commercial and environmental success”.

Steven Alevy, Managing Member of Bankers Capital said: “The world’s greatest investors, like Warren Buffet and the leading technology companies like microsoft, Intel and Google have invested in Israel because it consistently produces leading edge technology breakthroughs. And the best and brightest in Israel are at IAI where they have invented the new TaxiBot technology. The TaxiBot system will have a profound impact on the aviation industry and we are proud and excited to be part of the team that is bringing this new technology to market”.