The president of the Andalucía Aerospace cluster, Antonio Gómez-Guillamón, and the Regional Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Jorge Paradela, presented on July 3 the Andalusian Aerospace Sector Report for the year 2023, which has shown an aggregate turnover of 2,743 million and 14,440 direct jobs.
These figures represent an increase of 16.4% in turnover and 10% in terms of employment compared to the previous year, adding an additional 387 million in sales and 1,304 new workers in the last year. A growth that, in the words of Jorge Paradela, “not only demonstrates the strength of the Andalusian aerospace industry, but also its capacity to adapt”.
“As a government, we are aware that we are in a time of transition with important challenges, but also with significant opportunities,” stressed the Minister of Industry. In this line, he indicated that “sustainability will continue to be a key factor, driving innovation in new technologies and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)”. A challenge that, he added, “opens up new opportunities and synergies between two of the pillars of our industrial fabric: aerospace and the energy industry”.
Paradela stressed that “investment in defense will increase in the short term, which benefits the military aerospace sector with an important presence in Andalusia, but we must be prepared not only in the strengthening of existing lines, but to obtain the largest possible workload in new projects and European defense systems”. An issue that the counselor has addressed this week at a meeting with the Secretary of State for Defense, Maria Amparo Valcarce, in Madrid.
For his part, the president of the Andalusia Aerospace cluster, Antonio Gómez-Guillamón, pointed out that the data for 2023 reflect “a greater workload for our companies, in parallel with the increase in orders in commercial aviation and the continuity of the defense programs in which Andalusian firms participate, such as the C295 or the A400M”.
This statistical report, prepared by Andalucía Aerospace with the support of the Regional Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines, offers a complete picture of the Andalusian aerospace sector, made up of 147 companies. Most of them are located in Seville (106), Cadiz (22) and Malaga (13).
Aerostructures remain the main activity, with 53 companies specialized in this industrial activity, followed by engineering and consultancy (with 37 companies), so that aircraft structures account for 48% of the sector’s sales.
If we look at the turnover by programs of aerospace companies in Andalusia (without the tractor companies), 45% corresponds to the defense sector, and 55% to civil aviation. And by market segment, 75% of the turnover corresponds to aeronautical industry activities, 17% to aviation services (including MRO, crew training and aerial work) and 7% to the Space sector, a sector in which the aggregate turnover has increased by 35%.
In terms of employment, the Andalusian aerospace sector is once again showing a positive growth trend in 2023, which in the last ten years has only been diminished by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. A sector that has generated in 2023 a total of 14,440 direct jobs, 23% of which correspond to female employment. Forty-four percent of employees are graduates and 39% are skilled workers with vocational training, “and this is one of the main strengths of the Andalusian aeronautical sector, a century-old industry that has a very high degree of specialization in terms of its highly skilled workforce, and that tips the balance in favor of Andalusia for international firms to settle in our land, in turn creating new jobs,” says the president of Andalusia Aerospace in reference to cases such as the Swiss jet company Pilatus.
A strategic and growing sector
The data of the report presented today confirm the growth capacity of the aerospace industry in Andalusia, which already represents 12.84% of the Andalusian industrial GDP. A strategic sector, as already remarked the President of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, in the meeting he recently held with the Board of Directors of Andalucía Aerospace, and in which the Minister Jorge Paradela was also present.
As a novelty, one of the data offered for the first time by the report is the investment in R&D&I in the aerospace sector in Andalusia. Andalusian companies with R&D&I activity invest an average of 8.4% of their turnover. “The development of cutting-edge technology and the acquisition of new capabilities by companies is a competitive advantage that helps us to position and technological differentiation, so from the cluster we promote networking and joint participation in R&D&I projects to grow through innovation,” concludes the president of Andalucía Aerospace.
The turnover of the Andalusian aerospace sector has grown by 33% in the last decade, and in terms of exports Andalusia remains as the 2nd exporting autonomous community, being in 2023 France and Germany the main destination countries.
The outlook for the future is also positive. The upcoming start-up of the Unmanned Systems Test Center (CEUS) in Huelva, the Advanced Manufacturing Center in Cadiz and the Center for Innovation in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Urban Air Mobility in Seville (CUAM), together with the Spanish Space Agency, will allow to continue growing in market niches with great potential, such as Space, drones and Advanced Air Mobility.
Consult the Andalusian Aerospace Sector Report 2023 here.
Source: Andalucía Aerospace
