The Berlin Air Show celebrated its 100th birthday this year at a time when things are starting to look up. When it closed on June 13, Airbus walked out the door with US $15 billion of new orders in its pocket, or almost six months of work for the aircraft manufacturer. Its Chief Operating Officer, John Leahy, says he can see “green shoots of industry recovery.” Evidence of these “green shoots” came at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow where Airbus and Boeing won nearly 400 commitments between them.
- Airbus 380 (Photo credit: Phinalanji on Flickr)
Let’s look at the facts: after a jittery 2009, the French aerospace industry is taking off again. But can we keep calling it a French industry? As we all know, Airbus is a joint venture between the UK, France, Germany and Spain. As well as high-profile national gems like Dassault, Safran, Eurocopter, Arianespace and Thales, France is also home to a number of international players in the sector…
Brazilian Embraer, the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, has had operations in France since 1983. In 2008, American aerospace and defense group General Dynamics decided to start doing business in France and created 200 additional jobs in the process. Just recently, the Canadian group Alcan Global Aerospace decided to invest €42.5 million at its Issoire site in the Auvergne to develop its new AirwareTM technology.
Foreign companies like Finmeccanica, Goodrich, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins and an array of subcontractors and independent suppliers, in addition to the French subsidiaries of European consortiums (EADS, ATR, etc.), now account for nearly half of the sector’s turnover in France.
These investors prefer to set up shop in regions that have innovation clusters serving the industry: ASTech Paris-Région in Ile-de-France, Pégase in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur and of course Aerospace Valley in Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées. The next big industry event is the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget from June 20 to June 26, 2011. Will new foreign investments in France once again be part of the bargain?
Interesting? To find out more, take a look at:
- the “Aerospace Industry” market report
- the “Aerospace subcontracting in France: Opportunities for Foreign investors” press release
