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Company type | Private Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Aerospace |
Founded | 1912 |
Founder | Giulio Macchi |
Defunct | 2003 |
Fate | Merged |
Successor | Alenia Aermacchi |
Headquarters | , |
Parent | Leonardo S.p.A. |
Website | https://aircraft.leonardo.com/en/home |
Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Italian military. With a factory located on the shores of Lake Varese, the firm originally manufactured a series of Nieuport designs, as well as seaplanes.
After World War II, the company began producing motorcycles as a way to fill the post-war need for cheap, efficient transportation.
The company later specialised in civil and military pilot training aircraft. In July 2003, Aermacchi was integrated into the Finmeccanica Group (now Leonardo)[1] as Alenia Aermacchi, which increased its shareholding to 99%.