Strata Manufacturing has signed US$1 billion worth of contracts with Airbus to build composite components and completed major assemblies for the company’s small and midsized aircraft.
Strata will make the horizontal tail plane for the single-aisle Airbus A320 and inboard flaps for the wide-body Airbus A350-900.
The horizontal tail plane is a primary part of the aerostructure that provides stability and control to the aircraft. Inboard flaps, mounted on the trailing edge of the wing, increase the surface of the wing during take-off and landing and improve stability during flight.
The deals at the Farnborough Air Show come as Airbus increasingly focuses on delivery of its smaller aircraft in the face of declining demand for its A380 double-deck, wide-body.
Strata, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi government investment firm Mubadala, will build and assemble the components at its facility in the Nibras Al Ain Aerospace Park.
The contracts follow an agreement struck last year between the two companies for the manufacture of wing tips for the Airbus A330/340 and flap tracks for the A380.
Strata also supplies composite components for Boeing's 777 and 787 models.
“We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Airbus, and are privileged to be manufacturing components on Airbus’ A330, A350 and A380 aircraft,” said Badr Al Olama, Strata’s chief executive.
“Looking ahead, and building on our latest contracts with Airbus signed today, we are confident in our ability to continue strengthening our competitiveness, growing our national workforce and playing a key role in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain’s positioning as a global aerospace hub.”
The announcement of the contract with Strata comes as Airbus said that it was scaling back production of the A380.
The company announced a US$12.6bn deal on Monday for the supply of 100 A321 aircraft to low-cost carrier Air Asia, followed by a $4.4bn deal with Virgin Atlantic for 12 A350-1000 jetliners.
Separately, Mubadala and Rolls-Royce yesterday confirmed plans for a new facility to carry out maintenance work on the Trent XWB engine that powers the Airbus A350 XWB. The agreement for the maintenance centre will be finalised in the second half of this year and construction is expected to begin as early as next year. This too will be located in the Nibras Al Ain Aerospace Park.
Mubadala earlier this week announced an agreement with Belgium’s Solvay, which will partner with Strata to create advanced materials for the aerospace industry.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
