Aerospace industry in Latin America

In June 2021, when he retired as president of Fiat Auto Argentina, businessman Cristiano Rattazzi announced: "I'm going to dedicate the next few years of my life to helicopters."

Rattazzi is convinced that helicopter navigation is a business that is still very underdeveloped in Argentina, especially in an urban area as large as Buenos Aires. In 2022, Rattazzi promoted the opening of the Helipuerto Autódromo (see note) and has now inaugurated a helicopter flight simulator in the town of Don Torcuato.

The investment was made by his company Modena Air Service, which is part of the Modena Group. It is a "Mixed Reality" 6XSIM simulator, which was developed together with the Delta 3 firm. It is the first of its kind in Argentina and the second in the world, which allows it to be operated by pilot and co-pilot crews, with the possibility of interacting with other crews in other simulators remotely.

Rattazzi's company defined the "Mixed Reality" system in this way: "The pilot has an absolute experience of realism, since the System, through sensors, knows the position of his body, his eyes and the external cameras in the visor obtain the images of the cabin with a movement reaction time in tenths of a second."
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In this first phase, the 6XSIM is configured for training in Agusta AW109 helicopters, but it was announced that other aircraft models will soon be adapted. This simulator has the benefit of streamlining the process of obtaining initial and recurring qualifications to validate in RAAC 135, "generating cost savings and avoiding the transfer of foreign currency abroad."


 
It was last June when the company Safran Aerosystems announced the investment of 6 million euros to build its new Plant 6 in the Supra Industrial Park, in Chihuahua.

This plant, which will be dedicated to the production of evacuation systems and components for aeronautical seats, is expected to create 300 new jobs.

As a follow-up to this investment and progress of the work, Sébastien Weber and Jorge Acosta, president and general director of Safran Aerosystems, met with Maru Campos, governor of Chihuahua. At this meeting it was confirmed that the new headquarters is scheduled to begin operations in 2025, thus adding 12 plants in said entity.
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Sustainable plant

This new complex will have cutting-edge technology, complying with the highest standards of quality and sustainability. Among its innovations, the installation of 1,190 solar panels stands out, which will reduce 585.5 tons of CO2 per year.

The French company currently employs 8,000 employees locally, representing more than half of the Safran Group's employees in the country.

 
The E-Freighter E190F, an Embraer passenger jet converted to a freighter, has been certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The aircraft and the Cargo Loading System, developed by U.S. Cargo Systems, received FAA certification in September 2024. In July, the E-Freighter was certified by the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), and certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is expected by the end of the year. The jet was developed to fill a gap in the air cargo market, becoming an alternative to replace older and less efficient aircraft.

The E190F program was launched in May 2022 and is designed to meet the dynamic operations and demands of e-commerce, which require more agile and decentralized deliveries. The E-Freighter made its maiden flight in April and its first public display took place in July at the Farnborough Airshow.
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“FAA certification is an important milestone in our freighter conversion program and we are excited about entering this market. We will work to meet the global need for faster deliveries, both in metropolitan areas and beyond. With the international presence of E-Jets in the United States and other countries, we will offer optimized solutions to our customers in a connected world,” said Martyn Holmes, Chief Commercial Officer, Embraer Commercial Aviation.

 
With the aim of developing research projects, generating specialized jobs and contributing to the goal of net zero carbon emissions for the aerospace industry by 2050, the Aerospace Component Testing Laboratory was inaugurated at the Aeronautical University in Querétaro (UNAQ).

This laboratory has the purpose of promoting research in clean technologies, generating specialized employment and contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions in the aerospace industry, aligning with the global commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Mauricio Kuri González, governor of Querétaro, indicated that this project has a global scope and that the objective of the laboratory's study is the components of various GE Aerospace engines; while the research focus will be the effects of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), compared to conventional hydrocarbon fuels.
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For his part, Andrés Soler Pérez Salazar, general director of GE Aerospace México, said that through this collaborative work, Querétaro is doing its part by maintaining its development, but without generating undesirable impacts, since the solutions are based on sustainability.

In turn, the rector of UNAQ, Enrique Gerardo Sosa Gutiérrez, highlighted that the laboratory is a milestone for the institution and for the state, since it is one of the few where GE will carry out tests that will contribute to the future of aeronautics in a more sustainable way.


We had a chat with the General Manager of GE Aerosoace in Mexico, during FAMEX 2023, where he told us that all the engineering for the CF-34-10A Turbofan is done at that center

The General Electric Infrastructure Querétaro (GEIQ) employs a total of 1,500 engineers. This site is the largest aeronautical engineering center outside the US and the main advanced engineering center in the Latin American region, reported Fernando Alcántara, product quality engineer at the aforementioned Querétaro site.
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From this center, General Electric provides solutions for internal use, but also external use, aimed at the general industry. For the Aviation sector, for example, it offers support for airplanes, for all commercial engines and some military ones. In addition, it has groups of engineers dedicated to the design of internal components of various aerostructures

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xVTpWAYigc
 
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This Friday, October 11, through its official social media, Index Chihuahua reported that Metal Finishing Company, Chihuahua plant, received the Bombardier 2023 Diamond Certification in the Production category. This recognition was awarded during a ceremony held on September 16 in Montreal, Canada, where Bombardier recognized suppliers that demonstrated exceptional operational performance throughout the year.

The certification, one of the most important for Bombardier suppliers, was awarded in three categories: Production, Indirect Goods and Services, and After Sales. Metal Finishing Company, which is dedicated to surface treatment and finishing for the aerospace industry, was recognized for its constant innovation and high operational standards.

Shauna Gamble, Director of Procurement at Bombardier, stressed the importance of rewarding suppliers with sustained performance, stating that these distinctions foster excellence and collaboration between supplier companies and Bombardier. "Rewarding suppliers for sustained operational performance and innovation not only recognizes their valuable contributions to our business, but also fosters a culture of excellence and collaboration that drives mutual success," said Gamble.

The 2023 Diamond Certification award ceremony took place on September 16 in Montreal, Canada.
The Diamond Certification award reflects the efforts that suppliers have made to maintain quality and efficiency in their operations, a key aspect in the aerospace industry supply chain. Bombardier highlighted that the award-winning companies have overcome the challenges of a highly competitive and constantly evolving sector.

This achievement reaffirms Metal Finishing Company's position within the industry as a reliable supplier committed to quality, as shared by Index Chihuahua in its statement.
 
LEON, GTO - Mexico has become the twelfth largest exporter in the aerospace sector worldwide, and in less than 10 years it has gone from tenth place to sixth place as an exporter to the United States, which means that it is growing very fast, said Óscar Rodríguez Yáñez, president of the Bajío Aerospace Cluster.

According to his inaugural speech at the BJX Summit Aerospace 4.0 2024, the businessman said that in the next 20 years, what is coming in this sector is the doubling of the number of aircraft in the world, according to estimates by large companies.

Mexico has become the twelfth largest exporter in the aerospace sector worldwide, and in less than 10 years it has gone from tenth place to sixth place as an exporter to the United States, which means that it is growing very fast, said Óscar Rodríguez Yáñez, president of the Bajío Aerospace Cluster.

According to his inaugural speech at the BJX Summit Aerospace 4.0 2024, the businessman said that in the next 20 years, what is coming in this sector is the doubling of the number of aircraft in the world, according to estimates by large companies.

This, he explained, will represent 44 thousand new aircraft that will come out in the next two decades and this will pull the production chain; passengers will be growing by 5% and more than two million jobs will be needed in this sector.

This means that 600,000 pilots, 850,000 flight attendants and more than 600,000 engineers and technicians will be needed, he said.

Rodríguez Yáñez recalled that in the year 2021 alone, from the United States to Mexico and vice versa, more than 100 million passengers will move and he highlighted that this figure will increase to 440 million passengers by 2040.

This means, he added, that there will be a great detonator for the industry, as well as for its productive chains. In the area of services alone, the value of the global market over the next 20 years will be in the order of US$9.5 billion.

He added that aerospace manufacturing does not represent more than 1.4% of Mexico's GDP, which marks a great opportunity and becomes a gap that can be used.
 
y Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Electric aircraft maker Eve has obtained a $50 million loan from Citibank, strengthening its balance sheet and supporting the development of its "flying car," the company said on Wednesday.

Eve, controlled by Brazilian planemaker Embraer, is one of a bevy of startups worldwide developing battery-powered aircraft that can take off and land vertically to ferry travelers on short city trips, allowing them to beat traffic.


The firm expects its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to obtain certification and enter service in 2026, and has amassed nearly 3,000 potential orders ahead of production with potential revenue of $14.5 billion.

"Eve continues to attract new investors, a sign of the continued confidence in our strategic plan and strong customer interest in our eVTOL aircraft," Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Couto said in a statement.

The Citi loan comes on top of a credit line of $88 million that Eve secured from Brazil's state development bank BNDES earlier this month to fund the development of its first production facility in Sao Paulo state.

Following a raising of $95.6 million in new equity in July from a group of investors including Embraer and Japan's Nidec, the fresh loan pushes Eve's pro-forma liquidity to about $480 million, the company said.

The key metric stood at around $340 million at the end of the second quarter.

"The bank loan, along with existing cash and credit lines, ensures that Eve remains well capitalized with a comfortable balance sheet and one of the highest cash runways in the advanced air mobility industry," Couto said.
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Eve debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2022, raising around $400 million to develop and produce its eVTOL aircraft.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Sonali Paul)

 
RABAT (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer has signed a preliminary deal with Morocco to invest in the nation's civilian and defence aerospace sector, including setting up a maintenance and repair plant, Morocco's industry ministry said late on Wednesday.

The new maintenance, repair and overhaul facility (MRO) is likely to boost Embraer's chances of winning a slice of a plane purchase tender launched recently by Moroccan airline RAM, a Moroccan industry source said, requesting anonymity.


RAM plans to quadruple its fleet to 200 within the next 14 years to strengthen its position as a carrier linking Africa to Europe and the Americas, RAM CEO Abdelhamid Addou said at the opening of the Marrakech Air Show, where the Embraer deal was sealed.

On Monday, airplane engine maker Safran signed a deal with the Moroccan government to build an MRO plant worth 130 million euros ($141.14 million).

Morocco's government has encouraged investment in the country by aerospace suppliers in recent years, hoping to match its success in car manufacturing, creating hubs to shorten supply chains and share expertise.

The country's 147 aerospace industrial plants make parts from cables to high-tech engine components, with exports totalling $2.2 billion last year, supplying global manufacturers including Boeing and Airbus.

($1 = 0.9211 euros)

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Helen Popper)
 
ITP Aero Mexico expanded its production center in Querétaro, which represented an investment of more than 580 million pesos and the incorporation of 250 new jobs.

The director of ITP Aero Mexico, Txomin Crespo Domínguez, recalled that the firm was the first aeronautical company to set up in Querétaro, a pioneer in an industry that today is one of the economic pillars of the state and that since 1998, the year in which ITP began operations, the history of its growth has been parallel to the growth of the state.

"A growth that in the case of ITP Aero has been accentuated in recent years. These two magnificent facilities that we are inaugurating today, the one we are in, which is the foundry, and the central warehouse, are two good examples of this growth and this investment effort in new products and new capacities for the plant."

The Spanish company has expanded its operations and capacities, focusing on the launch of new product families and new capacities in general, which has allowed them to position themselves as a benchmark in the aeronautical industry. He added that in order to address this growth during the last year, the workforce has grown by 20% and activity by 30%, which adds up to more than a thousand employees in the plant.

Meanwhile, the CEO of ITP Aero, Carlos Alzola Elizondo, celebrated the construction of the new facility that will be dedicated to manufacturing new branches of high-tech products, such as castings, of the highest technical complexity, they are products, he said, that have so much technology and complexity that very few companies in the world can do it. In addition, he said, the central warehouse that is also being inaugurated is a testimony to the volume that the plant in Mexico and that ITP as a whole is having, supplying an aeronautical market that is in a moment of absolute growth.

"These facilities that we are inaugurating are also a reference in terms of innovation, as I said, for the type of product we make, it is a quality product, but also in terms of sustainability (…) we are a reference in terms of the care that all our actions have on the planet (…) I cannot finish without thanking the support of the state of Querétaro, represented here by its Governor and the Secretaries of Sustainable Development and Labor, from the first moment we have felt very welcomed here, very loved, very supported," he declared.
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For her part, ITP Aero Mexico CEO, Eva Azoulay, stressed that the success of Querétaro is the success of ITP Aero, and therefore, she emphasized that the new facilities, unique in their category in the region, are an incentive to look to the future with optimism and determination. She specified that today it is the second largest plant in the world, equipment that has played an incredible role in its growth and in its continued success. She reaffirmed the Group's commitment to continue investing in technology and attracting young talent.

ITP Aero Mexico is a world leader in the design, development, manufacturing and maintenance of aeronautical propulsion systems and components for commercial and defense aviation.


QUERETARO - ITP Aero, an aerospace company of Spanish origin, invested US$27.7 million to expand its facilities in Queretaro, through a new ship for the production of castings and a logistics center.

This project will create 250 jobs over the next three years, according to company information.

This facility is in addition to the company's plans to increase its workforce in Mexico by 20% in the last year, with an expected increase to more than 1,000 employees.

The company plans to invest in the coming years to expand and improve its technological capabilities; in addition, according to the company, over the last three years it has focused its efforts on launching new product lines.

During the inauguration of the new facilities, ITP Aero CEO Eva Azoulay highlighted the company's participation in the industry, now with the development of new technological capabilities such as the manufacture of castings.

“We were pioneers in making Queretaro a world-class aeronautical hub, our growth and investments here demonstrate our commitment to the Mexican aeronautical sector, developing new technological capabilities, such as the manufacture of castings and positioning ITP Aero and Queretaro at the forefront of aeronautical technology,” she said.

ITP Aero was installed in the state in 1998, establishing itself as the first aeronautical company in Querétaro; since that date, the firm has registered a sustained growth in its operations, providing from engine maintenance services to the development of design and manufacturing capabilities for aeronautical engine components


LEON, GTO - By the end of this year, Safran Mexico will inaugurate two new plants in the country, one in Chihuahua and the other in Queretaro, said Alejandro Cardona Seeman, president of Safran Mexico.

In an interview with A21, during the BJX Summit Aerospace 4.0 2024, held in this city, he explained that Safran System's plant 6, which will be inaugurated by the end of this year in Chihuahua, will manufacture evacuation products, slides and rescue equipment.

The Querétaro plant will have the objective of expanding the MRO activity of single-aisle aircraft engines;
the idea is that up to 350 engines can be repaired at this plant for customers worldwide, and a test cell is being built in a controlled environment to run tests on how the engine will behave, as well as verify the parameters and certify the engine to return it to the customer.

He also pointed out that the new aircraft engines section is being expanded, so that this plant will assemble completely new engines in the country. This will position Mexico as the world's third largest producer of turbojets for single-aisle aircraft, after the United States and France.

He added that he expects the engine assembly extension to be inaugurated next November and the MRO engine plant and the Chihuahua plant to be opened next year.

“Safran is betting a lot on Mexico, for the simple fact that it is a completely strategic country, towards one of the largest consumers of aerospace products which is the United States and also a visibility to the Brazilian market, for the Embraer issue," he said.

The president of Safran Mexico added that the Mexican talent, in these last 34 years of Safran's adventure in Mexico, has been specializing, each time it is very competitive and that allows it to continue considering the country to locate highly specialized processes.

He added that, obviously, manufacturing follows technological development to make those designs and concepts a reality.

Therefore, Mexico needs to be able to retain talent in the country, foster an ecosystem of technological innovation and strengthen high-impact doctoral programs.

Another key issue, he said, is the ecosystem of OEMs -original equipment manufacturers- acquiring technology, i.e. when technology is purchased from a company, as in the case of Safran, it is important to analyze how the country's chain -Mexico- is going to participate in this technology.

 
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JUAREZ, CHIH - A 28 year old woman from Juarez has developed, along with her team, a material that will be sent by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to outer space for six months to undergo different tests to see if it can be used for the manufacture of aircraft, vehicles or exploration robots.

Nadia Zenteno, Jonathan Cruz and their team, MaTXSpace, found a material alloy that adapts to outer space conditions and can be used to build satellite infrastructure, aerospace exploration equipment and lunar ground operations.

Their project will be tested during these six months on the International Space Station (ISS) with the approval of NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX.

After winning first place in the International Air and Space Program in Houston, Nadia and her team were selected to develop a mechanism that will innovate at an international level the work with lunar regolith, which will be launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the ISS on October 30.

The young woman was also invited to present her research at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2024), which will be held from October 14 to 18, 2024 in Milan, Italy, so that, through the different state agencies, the necessary actions will be taken to ensure her participation is successful, as well as her subsequent linkage.

“This is a great opportunity, not only for the future, not only for me, I think of the next generations that will follow me and the next Chihuahua women, who I know will be very proud of what will be achieved from now on and with your help,” said Nadia.

 
Embraer delivered a total of 57 aircraft in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 33% compared to the same period last year and 24% from the previous quarter. Commercial Aviation delivered 16 aircraft and Executive Aviation delivered another 41 aircraft. Meanwhile, Defense & Security delivered two C-390 Millennium aircraft during the quarter: the first to Hungary and the seventh to Brazil.

The company-wide order backlog reached $22.7 billion in the third quarter of 2024 (up more than 25% from the same period last year), a nine-year high. Defense & Security recorded the largest increase in the order backlog (up more than $1.5 billion), followed by Services & Support (up more than $367 million), while Executive and Commercial Aviation recorded marginal decreases (down $184 million and down $168 million, respectively).

In the business jet segment, deliveries reached 41 units and increased by more than 45% year-over-year and more than 50% from the previous quarter. The business unit’s order backlog reached $4.4 billion during the quarter, up 3% from the previous quarter.

The nominal decline in the order backlog from its all-time high can be explained by higher growth (higher deliveries) and a seasonally slower period for sales due to the summer in the northern hemisphere.

The Praetor 500 and Praetor 600 mid- and super-mid-size aircraft accounted for close to half of the segment’s deliveries (19 aircraft). Meanwhile, the Phenom 300, the best-selling aircraft in its category for 12 consecutive years worldwide, was once again the best performer, with 18 aircraft during the quarter.

 

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