FACC is celebrating a milestone as the aerospace group recently handed over the 1,000th A350 engine cowling equipment to Collins Aerospace.

It says 50% of the Airbus A350's weight consists of composite lightweight components and this enables it to use 25% less fuel than its predecessor, as well as being up to 60% quieter. “With our many years of know-how we enable more efficiency and less noise. In this way, we are helping to make flying more sustainable,” says FACC CEO Robert Machtlinger.

Since the start of the project FACC has invested around 50 million euros in the development and manufacture of the components. It says this is to be able to offer Airbus a thrust reverser housing that is as weight-saving and fuel-efficient as possible and to align the production line with the highest level of efficiency and ergonomics. “The segment of long-haul aircraft is developing somewhat more slowly than that of short and medium-haul aircraft. However we assume that with the gradual removal of the restrictions in transcontinental travel, the demand for A350 aircraft will continue to rise,” comments Machtlinger. “In 2010 the first weight-optimised thrust reverser housings for the Airbus A350 were delivered. We are very proud that eleven years later we were able to hand over the 1,000th set of engine fairings to our long-standing customer Collins Aerospace.”

It says the use of newly developed composite materials results in considerable weight savings, which in turn results in lower fuel consumption and a significant reduction in CO2. At the same time, a special acoustic treatment of the components leads to significant noise emissions from the engines to the outside.

FACC designed the production line for the lightweight components in its production plant in Reichersberg, Austria, for maximum efficiency and, together with Collins Aerospace, incorporated technological innovations into the design of the thrust reverser housing.