Follows Award Of $45 Million Multi-Year Contract

Azura Polska, a business unit of Nimrod Group, has officially opened its office and production facility in Poland. This event follows the award of a $ 45 million multi-year contract by Airbus and STELIA Aerospace in July 2015, for the serial production of A350 XWB sheet metal parts. The newly-opened facility can soon grow further thanks to another production project from Airbus Helicopters.

The new project involves development and production of new aviation seats, which are currently in the research phase, conducted by Airbus Helicopters’ design office in Lodz and the Lodz  University of Technology (Politechnika Lodzka). The aim of the project is to develop, design, certify and produce a new generation of seats providing improved crash safety compared to existing seats. According to the plan, the development work on the implementation of the design and tests of the new seats should finish in 2016, and the production could be launched in the Lodz-based facility in 2017. The seats to be produced by Azura Polska could be used on all helicopters manufactured by Airbus Helicopters.

With the opening of Azura Polska in Lodz, Nimrod Group is supporting Airbus Group’s business development strategy for Poland. It was Airbus Helicopters who invited Azura Polska to join its industrial center in Lodz, which will also include a full assembly line of the Caracal helicopter. The design office of Airbus Helicopters, which was established in February 2015, is also based in Lodz. In return for the contract for the production of Caracal helicopters in Poland, Airbus Helicopters plans to create 1,250 direct and 2,000 indirect jobs, therefore it invites its suppliers to join the strategy of investment in Poland.

The Airbus Group strategy to develop co-operation with Polish companies is not limited to a single contract, but concentrates on an integrated system for the creation of new, innovative products and their production for Airbus Group markets and international clients. Other partners and suppliers of Airbus Group are also ready to place production activities in Poland. Simultaneously, the strategy involves development of co-operation with Polish universities in Warsaw, Lodz, Radom, Gdansk, and additional ones in future (including Bydgoszcz and Deblin), which is co-ordinated by the Airbus Helicopters’ design office in Lodz.

“The implementation of the helicopter contract involves the launch of production of parts and components for the Caracal helicopters in Lodz, Deblin and other cities of Poland. But more importantly, it will result in a broader investment and production engagement of Airbus Group itself or in co-operation with partners, including the development of a system of trusted suppliers in Poland,” said Tomasz Krysinski, Vice-President Research and Innovation at Airbus Helicopters.

“The investment in R&D activities in Poland will grow systematically up to the level of € 200 million per year. As a result of the activities, much more than 3,250 jobs, which have been foreseen as offset, will be created. The jobs will go beyond the employment in the Caracal factory in Lodz, which is only one tenth of the commitment,” Krysinski added.

(Source: Airbus news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.airbus.com