On Tuesday, February 21, Safran inaugurated the new Labinal production plant in Villemur-sur-Tarn, southwest France, reflecting its commitment to maintaining a strong industrial base in its home country. Labinal, a Safran group company, is the world's leading manufacturer of electrical wiring solutions for aircraft.

Located about 30 kilometers from Toulouse, Labinal's new aircraft wiring plant spans some 13,500 square meters (145,800 sq ft). It produces wiring harnesses and electrical cabinets for EADS, provides product support services for Airbus, and is also the company's worldwide production coordination center.

The creation of this new complex enables Labinal to group all production lines in a single new state-of-the-art building, meeting both ISO 14001 environmental standards and HQE high environmental quality standards, while also keeping pace with the ramp-up in aircraft manufacturers' production requirements.

The new plant has been named "Jean Labinal", in honor of the company's founder. It was officially inaugurated by Karen Bomba, Chairman and CEO of Labinal, Jean-Paul Herteman, Chairman and CEO of Safran, and Louis Gallois, Chief Executive Officer of EADS. The ceremony was also attended by Henri-Michel Comet, Prefect of the Midi-Pyrénées region, Martin Malvy, Chairman of the Midi-Pyrénées region, and Jean-Claude Boudet, Mayor of Villemur-sur-Tarn.