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The French aircraft maker has tapped Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to find external partnerships to help accelerate the commercialisation of the business, which will operate under the brand name ‘Aalto,’ the FT reported.
The solar-powered Zephyr drone is designed to linger at an altitude of about 70,000 feet (21 kilometres) for months at a time for surveillance or to provide a temporary boost to communications.
Sameer Halawi who has been leading the programme since last summer told FT that the Zephyr was “at a final design stage.”
“The idea of the carve-out is to bring like-minded partners to the equation and to be able to scale this business,” said Halawi, adding Airbus does not offer telecom services.
Airbus did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
