The Andalusian aerospace sector closes the year 2021 with a turnover and employment similar to those of 2020. The total turnover of the sector in 2021 remains above 2,000 million € with a drop of only 3% compared to the previous year in which the fall reached 27%, which means 2,002 million € for the year 2021. In the same way, employment also fell, but to a lesser extent than turnover, remaining at 12,161 direct jobs, which is 1% less than in 2020.
This was conveyed by the president of Andalucía Aerospace, Antonio Gómez-Guillamón, and its managing director, Juan Román, who have held this week at the Andalusian Confederation of Employers (CEA) an event with its associates and specialized media.
During the meeting, the results of the 2021 report of the Andalusian aerospace sector prepared by the Andalucia Aerospace cluster were presented.
After the drop in activity in 2020, due to the drastic reductions in air traffic caused by covid 19, the 2021 financial year has been a period of stabilization, although commercial air traffic still remains 20% below 2019 levels. It is estimated that the demand for “single-aisle” aircraft will have a faster recovery than “twin-aisle” aircraft with a slower recovery of no less than 4 years.
The progressive increase in production of the most important commercial aircraft, such as the A320, which went from 60 to 40 aircraft/month in 2020, and rose to 45 aircraft/month in 2021. A350 production has not recovered, remaining the same as in 2020.
The Andalusian aerospace industry has demonstrated its resilience in the face of the difficulties generated by the covid 19 pandemic, maintaining the number of 140 companies that make up the sector.
Andalucía Aerospace executives pointed out that they are facing a long-term crisis, longer than in other sectors, which will be more affected for “double aisle” aircraft, those used for intercontinental flights. Therefore, they appealed to the need for the Administrations to support more than ever a strategic sector for Andalusia, which continues to contribute 1.26% to the overall Andalusian GDP and leads the export rankings.
These aids to the sector should be marked by the implementation of the Aerospace Strategy of Andalusia 2020-2027, which, they insisted, should already begin to develop the actions contemplated therein. This Plan, they recalled, contemplates investments amounting to 572 million euros to promote technologies, certifications, new products and markets, training and, in general, to strengthen the aerospace ecosystem.
Andalusian Aerospace Sector 2021-Summary
Forecasts
In the vision of the Andalucia Aerospace Cluster, “the prospects for 2022 are good. We are confident that we can return to high levels of activity in the industry with a significant recovery of domestic and international flights, which will lead to a new increase in the production rate”.
In the military aircraft segment, the image of the A400M has been reinforced in terms of its usefulness, value and applications, following its role in bringing medical equipment to Europe at the height of the pandemic and in the evacuation in Afghanistan. It is therefore hoped that sales of this aircraft to new countries can continue to increase.
The C295, an aircraft that also has its final assembly at the San Pablo plant in Seville, is reinforced by the contract signed with India for 56 aircraft, of which 16 will be assembled in Seville. Also noteworthy is the recent order for 20 Eurofighter aircraft for the Spanish Air Force, which was signed last week at the ILA Berlin trade fair.
New opportunities will also arise in emerging businesses such as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs. Therefore, the importance of the successful development of the Arenosillo CEUS project in Huelva, scheduled for the end of 2023. This will involve the creation of an ecosystem around it to support test flights, payload integration and crew training.
Another opportunity will be New Space. The Andalusian aerospace fabric showed its full capabilities to be competitive in this sector during the first space conference of Andalusia that took place in FIBES last May. In this sense, the Andalusia Aerospace cluster supports the candidacy of the city of Seville as the headquarters of the future Spanish Space Agency.
Andalucía Aerospace executives also referred to the recently approved PERTE Aerospace. In this sense, they claimed that it should be used to reach the entire industry, including SMEs, which may be eligible for calls that can be carried out, in addition to developing major projects in the sector.
This plan includes the Aeronautical Technology Program (PTA) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation and managed by CDTI. More than 150 people have recently attended the presentation in Andalusia of the awaited call 2022 of the Aeronautical Technology Plan (PTA) organized in collaboration with CDTI, CTA, IDEA Agency, Aerópolis and Andalucía Aerospace.
The cluster trusts that the Next Generation funds will really serve to develop the digitalization, energy efficiency and circular economy projects that the sector needs at this time. In this regard, they stressed the importance of the European Clean Aviation program, a continuation of Clean Sky 2, which will launch calls defined by the leaders of the aeronautical sector in Europe, to develop projects for sustainable aviation. The need to increase national and European Defense Funds was also pointed out, in order to invest in developments that ensure European sovereignty in defense technologies, which has proven to be so necessary this year. Spain has committed its funding in strategic projects such as FCAS and Eurodrone.
Andalucía Aerospace continues to emphasize that internationalization is a major challenge in the Andalusian sector, hence the importance of continuing to bet on events such as the recent ADM (Aerospace and Defense Meeting) held in Seville or to be present at major international fairs such as ILA Berlin or Farnborough, where Andalucía Aerospace will participate by maintaining contacts with relevant institutions to disseminate the capabilities of the sector in Andalusia.
The presentation concluded with a desire of the cluster managers to continue maintaining a fluid and collaborative relationship with the new Andalusian executive that emerges from the recent elections and with the expectations that it will bet decisively to relaunch the sector for the possibilities of generating wealth for the region.
Source: Andalucía Aerospace
