The Regional Minister of Economy, Finance and European Funds and the president of the cluster sign an agreement that represents a public-private alliance to increase the Andalusian aerospace business in the world
The Regional Head of Economy, Finance and European Funds, Carolina España, in her capacity as president of Andalucía TRADE, and the president of Andalucía Aerospace, Antonio Gómez Guillamón, have signed a collaboration agreement at the headquarters of the public agency to promote the activity international association of the Andalusian aerospace industry. With this agreement, Andalucía Aerospace becomes a collaborating entity of Andalucía TRADE for the internationalization actions of a sector in which Andalucía is the Region that contributed the most in 2022 to the increase in exports from Spain, with 2,134 million euros of sales in abroad, 39% more than the previous year.
Through this public-private alliance, both entities will work in coordination to design international promotion strategies and an annual program of actions, tailored to the sector, to further promote the international business of the Andalusian cluster, coordinating their respective resources, programs and activities.
Andalucía TRADE, Business Agency for Economic Transformation and Development, attached to the Regional Ministry of Economy, Finance and European Funds, has among its functions the development and promotion activities that favor the economic and business development of Andalusia, the diversification and valorization of its productive system, including foreign investment and internationalization.
Andalucía Aerospace is a private cluster created to represent Andalusian aerospace companies. One of its main objectives is to contribute to the strengthening and positioning of the companies that comprise it in the national and international aerospace market, promoting sustainable technological development and business excellence of the Andalusian aerospace industrial fabric through the synergies of member companies and training and education of professionals in the sector. Andalucía Aerospace has had great growth in associates, and currently represents 92 companies in the sector.
There were 71 Andalusian exporting companies in 2022, of which 27 (38%) were classified as regular exporters, for having been exporting for at least four years in a row. These companies monopolize 99% of foreign sales.
Andalusia is one of the main aerospace hubs in Europe, due to its business ecosystem, turnover, infrastructure and innovation programmes, and the only one, along with Toulouse and Hamburg, that has the final assembly plant for a large aircraft, the Airbus A400M, which acts as its leading industry.
The Andalusian aerospace industry has already reached almost 6% (it is 5.7%) of the GVA (Gross Value Added) of the Andalusian industry and 30.5% of the GVA generated by the aerospace industry in Spain. It brings together 140 companies that generate more than 12,000 jobs. It is a complex industry, at the forefront of technology, with the greatest capacity to attract foreign investment projects and favor the geographical and productive diversification of Andalusian exports.
Link with companies
The agreement represents a step forward in the collaboration relationship maintained to date since, through it, Andalucía Aerospace becomes a “collaborating entity of Andalucía TRADE” for the actions that are established annually between the two entities, exercising, an active role when selecting these actions and acting as a focal point for companies in the sector when developing this internationalization program, which will include reverse and direct trade missions, international fairs and strategic events that consolidate Andalusia as the capital of the Spanish aerospace industry.
With an annual validity and extendable up to four years, both entities also undertake to share information related to companies interested in the internationalization process, as well as data on the sector that can serve as a basis for the design of internationalization strategies for brands or sectorial. Informative activities will also be carried out jointly, such as conferences and seminars; preparation of sectoral studies; and organization of international visits.
Through this agreement, Andalucía TRADE will make available to Andalucía Aerospace and its associated firms its training services, information, consulting programs, its digitized services and its commercial actions in all markets in the world, including those it covers through its Foreign Network present in 62 markets, and the actions scheduled from its geographics for America, Asia-Pacific, Africa-Middle East and Europe.
Strategic industry leadership
The Head of Economy and President of Andalucía TRADE, Carolina España, has highlighted the importance of the implementation of this agreement, “because of the progress it represents for public-private collaboration, under a common objective, which is to convert Andalusia into the first autonomous community in exports from Spain, something that corresponds to the level of the projects that are developed in our land, such as the final assembly of the Airbus A400M”.
Carolina España highlighted the resilience of a sector that suffered a paralysis like few others during the pandemic, and that already “in 2022 it has demonstrated its recovery capacity, with a 39% growth in its exports”. The figure is 10 points above the national average and more than 20 points above the Community of Madrid, still the first in sales (42.3%), but less than one point apart from Andalusia, which is already 41.5% of total Spanish exports, and which contributes more than half of all national growth”.
For his part, the president of Andalucía Aeroespacial, Antonio Gómez Guillamón, highlighted the importance of this collaboration with TRADE for the cluster, since “the internationalization of the sector is a priority and a necessity for most of our companies”. He also highlighted the work that the cluster is doing to identify priority markets and actions abroad that may be of interest to all its associates. “The Andalucía Aerospace brand should be better known in other countries that are still unaware of the technological capabilities of our companies and their experience and specialization.” Finally, Gómez Guillamón was very grateful for the very fluid communication that the cluster already maintains with the new TRADE and the added value that this agreement represents for the sector.
An internationalized sector
In 2022, the Andalusian aerospace sector recorded 71 exporting companies, 4.4% more than in 2021, of which 27 are regular exporters (four consecutive years exporting), that is, 38% of the total (16 points above the average of all sectors), which reflects that it is a fully internationalized sector, whose field of business is the entire world.
Its first markets are European, but it brings strong geographical diversification to the overall Andalusian exports, due to the volume of sales and the significant growth generated in non-European markets: Turkey, which in 2022 multiplies its bill by 10, up to 131 million; United States, 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, which with 30 million euros, is the fastest growing of the top 20 markets, multiplying its purchases from Andalusia by 718.
Even so, its main destination markets are European: 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%, with three times the Andalusian sales (+210%).
The first item in sales of the Andalusian aerospace industry 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 devices’, with 447 million, with 21% of the total.
In addition to these traditional sales niches, great possibilities are beginning to be added in areas that are undergoing major developments in Andalusia, such as experimentation and validation of technologies and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or remotely controlled systems (RPAS). A region with great opportunities for pilot training academies and MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) activities; first level infrastructures and great capacity for production, assembly and launch of satellites.
Boost in 2023
Extenda, an entity integrated into Andalusia TRADE, has been promoting the internationalization of this industry, with an important annual program and strategic events in Andalusia, which in 2022 included more than thirty actions, 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.
Among them, the organization of international events such as the Aerospace & Defense Meeting-ADM Sevilla stands out, the main business forum in Southern Europe, which last year, in its sixth edition, had 1,200 professionals from 323 companies from 29 countries; but it also promotes the development of reverse missions such as the one that is being held now, to strengthencontact between Tier1 and international OEMs and Andalusian companies.
In 2023, and through the signed agreement, there is a program of 15 specific internationalization actions for this sector, in which participation in the 54th Paris Air Show Le Bourget International Fair (June 19-22), with participating companies, stands out. at the Andalusian Stand and others distributed in different pavilions. Forum in which the seventh edition of the Aerospace & Defense Meeting- ADM Sevilla 2024 will be presented.
Similarly, in 2023, the Aerospace Meeting held in Seville with 29 Andalusian companies and agents from six countries stands out; the direct trade mission to India, held in May, with eight companies; or those planned for the United Kingdom; Morocco and Germany, in the remainder of the year.
