On 14 November Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, laid the foundation stone for the new Strata Manufacturing production facility, which is being built at the Al Ain Oasis. The plant will produce composite aircraft parts for the Mubadala Development Company (www.mubadala.ae). Supporting the building and start-up of the facility is cooperation partner Future Advanced Composite Components (FACC, Ried / Austria; www.facc.at).

The first stage of the construction project, which began in June 2009, will cover an area of 21,600 m². Production is scheduled to commence in Q4 2010. Over the next few years, the site will be enlarged to create a total production area of 60,000 m².

Mubadala and FACC announced their industrial partnership in mid-June 2009 – see Plasteurope.com of 25.06.2009. Strata has since received several orders, including from Airbus, the Italian company Alenia Aeronautica and FACC for spoilers and flap track fairings worth around USD 2 bn.