Farnborough Aircraft, developer of the F1 business aircraft, has received support from a senior British aerospace industry leader, in the form of Sir Ralph Robins. Until recently chairman of Rolls-Royce, he has given his backing to the project and agreed to chair a new advisory board for the company.

The appointment comes on the back of the announcement of several key appointments to Farnborough Aircraft’s board of directors, including John Weston, ex-chief executive of BAe Systems.

Andrew Taee, chairman and chief executive of Farnborough Aircraft, says he has prioritised the recruitment of senior figures from the UK aerospace industry in order to bring their ‘considerable knowledge and experience’ to the Farnborough project.

“This is another major step forward for this important project and we warmly welcome Sir Ralph Robins to the growing team at Farnborough.

“His leadership at Rolls Royce made the company a world leader in aero-engines, and his skills and experience will be crucial in guiding the Farnborough team as we develop a new aerospace industry sector for Britain.

The advisory board at Farnborough Aircraft has been inaugurated to guide the company’s engineering and commercial teams in developing and bringing to market the F1 aircraft. It will act as a source of internal advice and experience, and as external ambassadors for the project within the aerospace industry. Further appointments will be announced as other members join under Sir Ralph Robins’ chairmanship.

 Sir Ralph commented: “I am extremely impressed by what has already been achieved by the Farnborough Aircraft team, and by their vision for the future of business air transport. I believe this project has identified a major new market and has enormous potential. It is an opportunity to re-establish a British-led project in the business aircraft sector, bringing much needed jobs, skills and engineering leadership to the UK.”

 Farnborough Aircraft is designing a six-seat, single-jet engine turboprop aircraft – the Farnborough F1 – to fulfil what it sees as the need of time-sensitive business travellers for point-to-point on-demand air services.

A spokesman added: “Utilising the existing network of more than 8,000 public use airfields in Europe and North America, the Farnborough

F1 will significantly reduce travel times, avoid the congestion and delays of scheduled air travel, and make on-demand air services affordable to many thousands of business travellers.”

 Sir Ralph Robins has recently retired as the Chairman of Rolls-Royce where he previously served as managing director, deputy chairman and chief executive before becoming chairman in 1992.

He has also been a non-executive director of Cable and Wireless since 1994. He is chairman of the Defence Industries Council and former president of the Society of British Aerospace Companies.