Alestis receives nearly 100 million euros in public funding for the A350 programme
The Council of Ministers has authorised the Ministry of Industry to grant loans totalling 88.9 million euros to the Andalusian company Alestis Aerospace for its participation as a Tier One supplier in the development programme for the Airbus A350 XWB during the period from 2010 to 2013.
The government’s decision was influenced by the “strategic nature” of the A350 programme for the Spanish and Andalusian aeronautical industry, due to “its importance as a source of innovation and tech- nology.” The A350 airliner is “the most ambitious European civil aeronautical project of the coming decade,” involving the crea- tion of a new family of 270-400-seat aircraft with a range of 15,380 kilometres. Airbus is responsible for general design and assembly of the aircraft, although the project involves the participation of other Tier 1 suppliers such as Alestis.
The Spanish industry will be responsible for around 11% of the work packages in its development phase, including assignments involving high technical complexity. The Andalusian government has also recently approved the grant by the Andalusian Agency for Innovation and Develop- ment (IDEA) of a participatory loan of 5.26 million euros to Alestis in relation to the contract for the manufacture of the tail cone and belly fairing of the A350, which has been assigned to this Andalusian company. These orders will result in the generation of more than 1,200 jobs and a total turnover of 1.7 billion euros in the coming years.
