Almost twenty of the most important manufacturers in the world participate, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Tata Advanced Systems, Turkish Airlines or Spirit Aero Systems
The Junta de Andalucía is promoting the diversification of the commercial activity of almost thirty Andalusian companies in the aeronautical industry, with some of the largest manufacturers and Tier 1 in the sector worldwide, through a commercial mission in which 19 agents from markets of interest such as the US, Brazil or India participate, who have traveled to Seville to hold business meetings; learn first-hand about the capabilities of the Andalusian aerospace cluster and the opportunities and facilities for investment projects in the sector.
In 2022, the Andalusian aeronautical industry showed signs of a strong recovery after the pandemic, with export growth of 39% compared to 2021, reaching 2,134 million euros. These figures place Andalusia as the Region that contributes the most to the growth of sales in Spain (15 points of the +29.2% national increase) and the second most exporter, with four out of every 10 euros exported to Spain.
The trade meeting, organized by Andalucía TRADE, through Extenda, was inaugurated by Extenda’s CEO, Lorena García de Izarra, accompanied by Juan Román Gallego, managing director of the Andalucía Aerospace cluster. Both have welcomed the Andalusian companies, as well as the international guests, who will hold more than 150 bilateral business meetings; They will visit technological spaces in the region and learn about the virtues of the Andalusian Government’s Invest in Andalusia program, aimed at promoting ways to attract investment to the Region.
This trade mission has been specially designed to favor the diversification of the Andalusian aeronautics of the large manufacturers in the EU, which is why, among the main participating international companies, the presence of brands such as Boeing, Lookheed Martin, Tata Advanced Systems, Spirit Aero Systems and Turkish Airlines stands out. The aim is to promote the international business of the Region´s aeronautical industry, a sector that the Andalusian Government has classified as ‘strategic’, due to its role as one of the main players in the new Andalusian production model, based on the innovation and knowledge.
In this sense, the Andalusian Government launched the pioneering Aerospace Strategy of Andalusia 2021-2027, the result of the strong commitment to the sector, to which the efforts of the Andalucía Aerospace cluster as well as Airbus are also added, as the great European driving force.
An international business forum
The Andalusian delegation participating in the mission that began today and will last until March 30, is made up of almost thirty companies, the bulk of which, specifically, 24, come from Seville, while another three come from Malaga and two more from Cádiz.
Within the framework of this forum, they will hold meetings with agents from 19 companies from around the world, large international companies invited, mainly aircraft manufacturers and Tier1 from the market sector with great business prospects, most of them from outside the EU, such as the US, Brazil, India, Turkey, and also from Poland and the Czech Republic. Among these large companies are Boeing, Tata Advanced Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Pilatus, Leonardo or Turkish Airlines. Spirit Aero Systems (USA), Aero (Czech Republic), Alestis Brazil, Bae Systems (UK), GA Telesis (USA), Montana Aerospace (USA), Plan-S (Turkey) and Tei (Turkey) are also present.
The organization of this action by Extenda will be co-financed with funds from the European Union through P.O. FEDER de Andalucía 2014-2020, endowed with a community contribution of 80%, or any other European Program likely to co-finance this action.
Three days of intense work
The objective of this mission is, therefore, to make known to a selection of large international aerospace manufacturers the solvency of the Andalusian industry, its know-how in large international projects and to facilitate commercial synergies between these firms and the main world contractors, through who are presented with the economic and professional environment that surrounds the Andalusian industry, conducive to making the most of any potential investment in Andalusia, in a sector in which it is highly competitive.
Extenda, a public company integrated in Andalusia TRADE, has launched this mission as an effective business forum, with an intense three-day work schedule that includes meetings between the companies of the inAndalusian industry with the multinationals invited to this meeting.
But in addition, international agents will have the opportunity to visit some of the most important infrastructures in the sector in the Region, such as Aerópolis, the only Science-Technology Park in Europe dedicated exclusively to aerospace, or FADA-CATEC, center of technological excellence, with extensive experience in the field of unmanned aviation.
Andalusia, the one that contributes the most to Spain
Andalusia is one of the main hubs of Europe and, together with Toulouse and Hamburg, the only one that has a final assembly line (FAL) for a large aircraft, the Airbus A400M. This exerts a notable boost to this industry and is greatly reflected in its international activity, which has shown a notable recovery in 2022, after two years mediated by the restrictions on the movement of passengers imposed by the pandemic.
Thus, Andalusian exports registered a growth of 39% in 2022 over 2021, to already reach 2,134 million euros, also contributing a surplus of 1,160 million to the Andalusian trade balance.
With these data, Andalusia has become the Region that contributes the most to the growth of Spanish exports of this industry, with half of the national increase (15 points out of +29.2%), which keeps it as the second Spain’s largest exporter, with 42% of the total (5,141 million euros).
An internationalized and diversified sector
The Andalusian aerospace sector has 71 exporting companies in 2022, 4.4% more than in 2021. Of these, more than a third (38%) are regular exporters (four consecutive years exporting), amounting to 27, which reflects that it is an industry established abroad. The first chapter in sales is that of other aircraft, space vehicles (satellites) and their launch and suborbital vehicles, with 1,682 million, 79% of the total and a growth of 54%; followed by parts of the devices, with 447 million, with 21% of the total.
Its first markets are European, in this order, Germany, with 583 million exported, 27.3% and a growth of 76%; France, with 513 million, 24%, with an increase of 5%; Belgium, with 350 million, 16.4% of the total; and the United Kingdom, with 178 million, 8.3%, which triples its data, with an increase of 210%.
In addition, the advances in markets that provide diversification stand out, such as Turkey, which in 2022 multiplies its bill tenfold to 131 million; USA, where sales double to close to 100 million; Bangladesh, which is the second fastest growing market in the TOP 10, multiplying its data by 229, up to 32 million; or Mali, with 29.9 million, which is the fastest growing of the top 20 markets, multiplying its sales by 718.
A program to continue growing
Extenda has been promoting the internationalization of this industry, in a coordinated action with the Andalucía Aerospace cluster, which included almost thirty internationalization actions in 2022, in which 59 Andalusian companies participated, a figure equivalent to 83% of the exporting companies in the sector, which supports the usefulness of this strategy for the sector.
To continue growing, Extenda works to position Andalusia as the third aeronautical hub and space hub by organizing international events such as the Aeroespace & Defense Meeting Seville, the main business forum in Southern Europe, which last year, in its sixth edition, had 1,200 professionals from 323 companies in 29 countries; but it also promotes the development of reverse missions such as the one that is being held now, to strengthen contact between Tier1 and international OEMs and Andalusian companies.
On the other hand, it promotes promotional actions in countries with a consolidated aerospace sector, where there is capacity for subcontracting, as well as in the main international trade fairs in which the sector is present worldwide, as will happen soon in Paris Air Show.
Finally, Extenda carries out an important task of tracking and detecting new players on the international scene in opportunity markets for the industry through other actions, such as an upcoming mission in India, which will include a dozen Andalusian companies.
