A glorious, successful story
The story of Piaggio Aero Industries began in 1884, when Rinaldo Piaggio became active in the railway industry after trying his hand in the naval furnishings sector.
He began building aeronautical engines in 1915, and engines for airplanes in 1925.
The innovative solutions developed by engineers Giovanni Pegna and Giuseppe Gabrielli would be fundamental to the development of the company's aeronautics sector. The result was its first helicopter, which was built to standards that were highly advanced for that time…as was it performance. It was the first aircraft with rotating wings, and it opened the skies to the development of modern helicopters.
After the war, Rinaldo Piaggio's sons Enrico (who went on to invest in the “Vespa” scooter) and Armando began rebuilding the equipment that had been destroyed.
Thus began Piaggio's celebrated pursuit of innovation and development, which involved the creation of aircraft with advanced technology and aerodynamics.
In 1966, the company divided its production into two sectors: personal mobility with the Vespa, and aeronautics with the production of airplanes, engines and structural components.
Studies for the P180 project began in 1979 and lasted over 10 years. And in 1990, the remarkable Piaggio P180 was finally introduced.
In November 1998, Rinaldo Piaggio S.p.A. was acquired by a consortium of businessmen headed by the Di Mase and Ferrari families.
The company, which was renamed Piaggio Aero Industries, became a leader in the production of executive airplanes in only a few years.
Its growing success attracted international interest and resulted in the acquisition of stakes in Piaggio Aero by two of the world's most important strategic and industrial investment groups, namely the Mubadala Development Company - a strategic investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi government (www.mubadala.ae) - and Tata Limited, a British company in the Tata Group. (www.Tata.com)