Dubai: Abu Dhabi’s Strata Manufacturing is to make Airbus A320 and A350-900 parts in Al Ain after finalising a work packages deal worth more than $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) with the European plane maker on Wednesday.
Under the agreement, Strata, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala Development Company, will manufacture parts of the tail known as the horizontal tail plane for the A320, and wing components known as inboard flaps for the A350-90, according to a Mubadala statement on Wednesday.
The deal, which was finalised at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK, comes after two years of negotiating the terms of a work packages deal Mubadala signed with Airbus in 2013 at the Dubai Airshow. Mubadala had been pushing Airbus to allow Strata to make parts that are more complex. Strata, which makes aeroplane composite parts in Al Ain, already manufacturers parts for A330, A380 and A350 jets. It also makes parts for Boeing and European regional jet-maker ATR.
“We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Airbus, and are privileged to be manufacturing components on Airbus’ A330, A350 and A380 aircraft. Looking ahead, and building on our latest contracts with Airbus signed today [Wednesday], we are confident in our ability to continue strengthening our competitiveness, growing our national workforce and playing a key role in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain’s positioning as a global aerospace hub.” Strata chief executive Badr Al Olama said in the statement.
Strata will make the A320 horizontal tail plane parts and the A350 inboard flaps in Al Ain, as per the statement.
In November 2015, Mubadala Aerospace and engineering services chief executive Homaid Al Shimmari told Gulf News Strata was unlikely to expand its manufacturing capabilities until it opened its new plant in 2017. Mubadala is also negotiating a work packages agreement with Boeing to expand the portfolio or parts it manufacturers for the US plane maker.
