Mahindra Aerospace — part of Indian conglomerate Mahindra — has announced that Australia's first 10-seat Single-Engine Turbine aircraft, the Airvan 10, has been awarded its FAR 23 Type Certificate from the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), followed by the U.S. Type Certificate being issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Mahindra Aerospace leads the Mahindra Group’s interests in aerospace manufacturing and is a major partner for Airbus in India.

In 2009, the company bought Australia’s GippsAero, which produces light utility aircraft. The Airvan 10, powered by a 450shp Rolls-Royce Model 250-B17/F2 engine, follows in the footsteps of the piston-powered Airvan 8. Typical cruise speed is listed as 145ktas. Certified ceiling is 20,000ft. Mahindra officials said sales efforts are focused on large markets for regional connectivity such as India, USA and Africa.

Keith Douglas, CEO of GippsAero said, "This now gives us an opportunity to progress into the next stage of the programme which will address customer and region specific enhancements to the aircraft. We expect delivery of the first aircraft to identified customers by the early 2018."