Austrian business jet interior parts maker and maintenance provider F.List plans to establish a production facility in the Montreal area by this year’s third quarter, the company announced on April 6. The initial investment will be $20 million, and plans call for production to start with wood veneers, which F. List CEO Michael Groiss called the lightest in the industry. Future plans involve aftermarket refurbishments. The location will employ 15 people initially, but Groiss expects it to support 100 jobs by 2020, he said.

Speaking with AIN on the day of the announcement, Groiss explained that the new leasehold benefits not only from a good source of engineering talent in the Montreal area, but also in terms of logistics given the location of its OEM customers and the fact that it sources much of its raw material from North America.

F.List counts Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer and Gulfstream among its customers. The Global 7000 is on List's list of targets, said Groiss; Bombardier has expressed interest in a lightweight composite cabinet material developed by F.List that weighs 20 percent less than conventional materials. Groiss said F.List has now secured one customer for the product, the identity of which remains confidential until the sides announce the contract at the EBACE show in Switzerland next month.   

The expansion into a Montreal subsidiary marks F.List’s fourth venture outside Austria and the first production venture outside its home country. It also maintains aftermarket support facilities in Melbourne, Fla., São Jose dos Campos, Brazil, and Berlin.

“Of course, for us it’s a big step on our way toward going more international,” Groiss told AIN. “North America is by far the biggest market worldwide and we need to be close to our customers.”

F.List also sees opportunities in the Middle East, in particular, and the company hopes next to establish a finishing center in Dubai. Groiss noted that the company’s recent acquisition of OHS Aviation Services at Berlin Schonefeld Airport will accelerate those plans. OHS, a Part 145 service center that become part of F.List on April 3, maintains close ties with Middle Eastern interests, he explained, opening new lines of communication to the region for his company.