CARACAS, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The first Venezuelan-made aircraft concluded its test flights on Saturday with flying colors, the deputy minister of air transportation, Ramon Velasquez Araguayan, announced.
"The aircraft took to the skies, with a perfect takeoff and landing," Velasquez said in a video posted to Twitter, referring to the SIBO-100 prototype named in tribute to Latin American liberator and national hero Simon Bolivar.
"Today we completed the test flight of the SIBO-100 ... in honor of the centennial of our military aviation," added Velasquez, who also serves as president of the Venezuelan consortium Industrias Aeronauticas y Servicios Aereos (Aeronautical Industries and Air Services).
Transportation Minister Hipolito Abreu also celebrated the event, calling it a "historical milestone that marks the birth of the National Aeronautical Company (EANSA)."
EANSA was created in February of this year and this week opened its headquarters in the central state of Aragua.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, on Thursday established two companies to provide aeronautical services and maintenance, in a bid to strengthen an industry hard hit by U.S.-led sanctions. Enditem