An Iranian company has joined the global club of manufacturers of the ground power unit for airlines, becoming the first firm to mass produce the equipment in the Middle East.
Managing Director of Nik Avid Sharif Company Peyman Mirzaei said his firm has become the first manufacturer of GPU for aircraft in the Middle East and one of its six producers in the world, Mehr News Agency reports.
Mirzaei noted that the preliminary design of the product was prepared by the graduates of Sharif University of Technology.
“Iranian experts managed to manufacture the first GPU in the Middle East while the technology for manufacturing the engine that generates ground power for airplanes was only monopolized by Russia, China, the US and Britain in the past,” he said.
Touching upon the use of GPUs, Mirzaei explained that the engine attaches to the airplane and provides the ground power for airplanes in between flights when the plane engine is off and there is no electric supply source for the aircraft.
“GPU further checks and controls some airplane systems in the interval between the two flights and also opens the doors of airplanes,” he said.
“The basic model of the device was produced two years ago and was used and evaluated at Urmia Airport and now has successful performances. It has entered the mass production phase.”
The company’s managing director said the designing team has 15 years of experience and the product is totally indigenized.
“Both the technology and raw materials are indigenous and the device has so far had a successful performance,” he said.
Mirzaei stressed that the device’s diesel engine needs to be fully compatible with environmental conditions to be efficient, therefore the Iranian version has been modified according to local standards for producing a cheaper and more productive device than the foreign brands.
