Strata and Leonardo sign agreement to produce composite plane parts

Pact extends 10-year collaboration between Al Ain-based manufacturer and Italian aerospace giant

Strata CEO Ismail Abdulla and Leonardo's head of aerostructures Giancarlo Schisano signed agreement that extends the companies' 10-year collaboration. Courtesy Mubadala

Strata, Mubadala Investment Company’s aerospace manufacturing unit, and Italy's Leonardo agreed to collaborate on developing and producing composite plane parts for major jetmakers' programmes as the Abu Dhabi firm expands.

The pact to spearhead new technology development will cover technical support services and knowledge exchange from Leonardo, which ranks among the world's top 10 aerospace, defence and security players, the companies said in a statement on Monday.
"The core objective of the [agreement] is to grow our mutual business in global OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) programmes," Ismail Ali Abdulla, chief executive of Strata, said. "This will be achieved by fostering strategic new opportunities to enhance Strata's technological knowledge and capabilities – both key factors in driving the UAE's knowledge-based economy and empowering the next generation of Emirati engineering pioneers."

Strata currently manufactures parts on widebodies, business jets and turboprops. It counts among its customers international aerospace giants Boeing, Airbus, Leonardo and Switzerland's Pilatus Aircraft for billions of dollars worth of contracts. It is the Gulf’s biggest producer of aircraft parts and a key anchor of the UAE's economic diversification efforts.

The company, which began operations in 2010, makes composite parts for wings and tail fins on jets including Airbus A380s and A330s, as well as Boeing 777, 777X and 787 Dreamliners.

The new pact extends a 10-year collaboration between Strata and Leonardo that included work on its ATR turboprops.

"After more than 10 year of Strata’s contribution to the ATR programme, Leonardo is committed to its strategic ongoing collaborations with Strata,” Giancarlo Schisano, Leonardo’s aero-structures division managing director, said. “Our engineering capabilities and advanced technology processes will be a key success factor to capture new business opportunities in a win-win cooperation scheme.

Strata is also eyeing opportunities to produce Boeing and Airbus narrowbody plane parts for the first time as it seeks to diversify its portfolio, Mr Abdulla told The National in an interview in November.

The Abu Dhabi-based company is keen on producing parts on the Airbus A320 Neo, Boeing 737 Max and its predecessor 737 NG model to capitalise on their extensive order backlogs, he said last month.