FACC and Mubadala cooperate in the manufacture of advanced composite aerostructures

FACC AG and Mubadala Development Company of the United Arab Emirates today announced that they have formed an industrial partnership and have signed a supplier agreement. According to this agreement, FACC will provide support to Mubadala in the construction of their composite plant Strata Manufacturing in Abu Dhabi and will transfer composite aerostructures manufacturing programs to the new plant.

The construction of the plant will commence end June 2009. Operations will be started in Q4 2010. In the first phase of the cooperation, FACC will transfer the manufacture of spoilers and flap track fairings for the A330/A340 and A380 aircraft models and provide technical assistance to develop operational structure as well as the manufacturing processes that are needed to achieve the international industrial certifications. The planned next phase will see further projects of Airbus and potentially of other aircraft manufacturers.

The cooperation with Mubadala will allow FACC to strengthen its competitiveness by setting its footprint in the rapidly growing market in the Middle East. Beyond that it will offer the company manufacturing capabilities in a US Dollar based economy which will contribute to a further increase of its natural dollar hedging. „Through the industrial partnership we want to underline our strategic orientation as an internationally acting specialist for advanced composite aerostructures and consolidate our position as a Tier One supplier of the large aircraft manufacturers", said Walter A. Stephan, CEO of FACC. „The subcontracting of work packages will free capacity at our Austrian facilities that is needed to support future business development and further growth. With its ambitious aerospace strategy and with its investment in establishing a state-of-the art aerostructures facility, Mubadala is the ideal partner."

The composite Aerostructures manufacturing is a cornerstone of Mubadala's global aerospace plans to design and build major composite assemblies for the next generation of aircraft. Strata will build capabilities by leveraging its relationships with FACC as one of its international partners.