South African companies that form part of the Airbus supply chain will not be affected by a reorganisation at the global aircraft maker, a local spokesman says.
Airbus announced last week that with British company GKN Aerospace’s recent acquisition of the Airbus wing component and assemblies manufacturing unit at Filton, “EADS/Airbus has accomplished its aerostructures reorganisation strategy”.
It explained that the initiative combined “the divestment of non-core activities and sites in order to establish a network of strong suppliers, allowing Airbus to concentrate on its core business as being an aircraft architect and integrator.
The SA Airbus supply chain includes Centurion-based Aerosud and Kempton-Park`s Denel Saab Aerostructures.
The sale of the Filton facility follows the transfer of the Laupheim site in Germany to Diehl/Thales on 1 October. “Prior to this, the carve-out process for the former German Airbus sites in Nordenham and Varel and the former EADS site in Augsburg to create the new Premium AEROTEC GmbH was also accomplished,” Airbus said in a statement.
“A similar process was undertaken in France, where Meaulte and St. Nazaire Ville are now the foundation of Aerolia. Both Premium AEROTEC and Aerolia commenced full operations on 1 January under EADS ownership, and are well positioned to become major players on the global market, especially regarding Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) aerostructures.”
A separate EADS release notes Aerolia “has in project the creation of an aeronautical park in Tunisia” that will “under-structural units”. No further details were given.
