The fate of the Airbus factory in Puerto Real in the south of Spain is known from 2021. It must stop. But the European aircraft manufacturer finally, on Monday March 4, 2024, sold its Spanish facilities to Zenshi, a Chinese group specializing in composite materials. The European aircraft manufacturer will consolidate its activities in a single site in the Andalusian capital.
As of Monday March 4, 2024, the Airbus factory in Puerto Real, in the south of Spain, has a “nuevo dueno” (new owner). According to some local media, the European manufacturer has just confirmed the sale to Zenshi of one of its two sites in Cadiz. The sale to a Chinese group specializing in the production of composite material components is part of the aircraft manufacturer’s restructuring process of these Spanish factories.
This sale is not surprising. In August 2021, Guillaume Fourie, the executive president of Airbus, announced the impending closure of the factory: “lThe Puerto Real site found itself with a very high level of undercapacity and in dire straits in terms of competitiveness and its own future.” he explainedAFP. The solution we are moving towards is essentially consolidating the rest of Puerto Real’s activities to another site in the Bay of Cadiz.”.
The activity of the Puerto Real factory, specifically responsible for the production of “Side boxes of the horizontal stabilizers of the A350 and A330 families” will extend to 2026, the date it should expire Relocation of all staff to the industrial zone of El Puerto de Santa Maria where the activity of the two industrial sites will now be grouped. Until then, Airbus will lease part of the factory to Zenshi, which plans to use it Installations for the manufacture of blades for wind turbines.
In 2021, the aviation giant’s decision led to a strike by Puerto Real employees.
According to the newspaper El Correo de Andalucía, Airbus assures that “Work load and employment will be maintained“At the same site as part of this relocation, the expansion is currently underway. 175 new employees, who will be added to the 700 existing positions, have been announced.
Airbus has several factories in Spain for commercial aviation in Getafe (Madrid), Illescas (Toledo) and Cádiz, for helicopters in Albacete (Castile-La Mancha) and Getafe; for defense in Seville and Getafe; And for aerospace, factories are located in Barajas and Tres Cantos, both located in the community of Madrid.
