During the recent Bourget Air Show in France, Future Advanced Composite Components (FACC, Ried / Austria; www.facc.at) announced an extensive cooperation agreement with Mubadala Development Company plus the construction of a new plant in Abu Dhabi (UAE). As a result, FACC – see also Plasteurope.com of 01.07.2008 – will gain access to the dollar region, which is important for an aircraft supplier, and will also have additional manufacturing capacity.

At the Air Show, CEO Walter Stephan explained that FACC would provide the know-how and would also shift several orders to the new plant. In the first phase of the cooperation, FACC will transfer the production of spoilers and flap track fairings for the Airbus models "A 330/A340" to Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala – whose sole shareholder is the government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi – will serve as the client for the production facility, which is to be built by FACC and will operate under the name Strata Manufacturing. The plant is said to be of similar size to the FACC plant IV in Ried. Construction is due to start before the end of June 2009 and production should commence in 2010. Mubadala, which sees aircraft construction as a strategically important segment, had apparently planned to acquire one of the European plants of EADS.

FACC puts sales in fiscal 2008/2009 (28.2) at EUR 264m (EUR 251.9m) according to the provisional figures. Earnings figures have not yet been published.