Türkiye’s 1st plane factory site to host aviation high school

KAYSERİ

Construction works have commenced for an aviation and aerospace high school in the area that once hosted Türkiye’s first aircraft factory serving for approximately 16 years in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri.

Established in 1926 and producing aircraft until 1942, the TOMTAŞ factory has been dormant for a long time. Collaboratively built by the Melikgazi Municipality and a philanthropist, the new aviation and aerospace high school will provide education in foreign languages and pave the way for advancement in 11 different fields for its students.

Providing information on the construction operations, Melikgazi Mayor Mustafa Palancıoğlu stated that Kayseri is a city with a rich aviation history, adding that the school will become a production center for UAVs, UCAVs and several other aircraft.

"The city housed a plane factory where five models of fighter aircraft were produced from 1926 to the 1940s. With that infrastructure and history, we are ushering in a new era in aviation,” Palancıoğlu said.

Noting that the foundation of the school was recently laid, the mayor announced that its construction will be completed by the end of the year.

Palancıoğlu emphasized that the school will cater to the future of Türkiye and Kayseri in the aviation and aerospace sector, nurturing young talent, noting that graduates will have the opportunity to easily transition to engineering faculties at universities.

"This school will not only cultivate aspiring individuals for space exploration but also provide a substantial infrastructure for the production of space vehicles," Palancıoğlu said.

"We are constructing this school on a 25,000-square-meter area where the old plane factory once stood. Thus, hopefully, a new chapter in aviation history will commence here, 100 years after the establishment of the aircraft factory,” he concluded.