Czech aircraft company Aero has opened a new production line for manufacturing the fuselage of its L-39NG advanced military trainer aircraft.

The new assembly line is expected to manufacture up to 24 aircraft fuselage units every year.

Associated initial production work at this new site has already commenced.

The company said that this initial production stage alone will contribute to increasing the annual production of L-39NG multi-role trainer aircraft to 17.

Once the work progresses to the second stage, the annual production capacity of Aero will further be increased to 24 L-39NG aircraft.

Seven of the trainer jets are currently in different stages of production at this new site while another set of five aircraft is undergoing final assembly.

Aero executive vice-president and chief industrial officer Jan Čáp said: “The investment we have made in building a completely new production line will allow us to gradually increase capacity and produce up to two L-39NG aircraft per month. We plan to reach production of 24 aircraft per year within two years.”

For the new site, Aero has also renovated the production area and upgraded the staff facilities. The new facility is expected to support around 100 different job roles.

Aero production vice-president Jiří Linka said: “We are recruiting new employees for the new production line who will be involved in the construction of our L-39NG aircraft.

“Every investment in increasing production capacity for new L-39NG jet trainer is another opportunity for Czech companies that have been involved with us in its production from the beginning.”

Aero Vodochody is responsible for delivering nearly 34 L-39NG aircraft ordered by different nations.

Last November, Aero secured a contract to deliver four L-39NG jets for the Czech Air Force.