Aequs Aerospace wins deal to supply titanium parts for Airbus

New Delhi: Aequs Aerospace, a unit of Karnataka-based Aequs Pvt. Ltd, will supply machined titanium parts for Airbus Group’s A320neo (new engine option) aircraft, the two companies said on Thursday.

The parts will be delivered to the Airbus plant in Toulouse, France, where they will be assembled into the pylon structure used to mount engines onto the aircraft wing, Airbus officials told reporters in Bengaluru.

Aequs Aerospace will supply more than 100,000 parts.

Aequs officials said that their company is the first from India to make titanium parts for an Airbus plane.

The announcement comes at a time when Airbus has committed to increase its procurement from India from $500 million in 2015 to $2 billion by 2020.

The company has 45 suppliers providing engineering products and IT services.

Aequs, which has a dedicated machining facility in Karnataka’s Belagavi district, is expecting $75 million revenue from its partnership with Airbus by 2020.

Aravind Melligeri, chairman and chief executive of Aequs, said his company has been producing machined parts for Airbus single-aisle, long-range and large aircraft since 2009, which include wing leading edge sub-assemblies for Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft.

“This contract for specialized titanium components underpins our commitment to expand our aerospace supplier partnerships in consonance with ‘Make in India’, which is at the heart of our strategy. We are proud to have Aequs as one of Airbus’ key Indian tier-1 suppliers,” said Srinivasan Dwarakanath, chief executive of Airbus India.

Airbus and other aircraft makers have been increasing their presence and procurement in India, a market with one of the fewest aircraft per million people. According to Airbus estimates, India has 0.3 aircraft per million population against 12.2 aircraft in the US and 46.5 aircraft in UAE, Dwarakanath said.

India will require more than 1,600 aircraft in the next 20 years valued at $224 billion, according to Airbus estimates.

This, Dwarakanath says will add much-needed fleet strength to existing carriers in a market that is expected to grow more than 9% over the next two decades, or double the global average.

Starting mid-2016, the company will deliver one aircraft per week in India for the next 10 years, Dwarkanath added.

Airbus said it has a 55% fleet market share currently, with around 210 aircraft and an order backlog of more than 500 aeroplanes from various airline operators in India.

India’s largest passenger airline, IndiGo, run by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, has placed orders for 430 A320neos, considered one of the most fuel-efficient aeroplanes today.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.