Eurocopter breaks ground on new facility
Eurocopter have begun work on a new facility in Querétaro, Mexico, the faciliity will manufacture aeronautical components and subassemblies
Eurocopter have begun work on a new facility in Querétaro, Mexico, the faciliity will manufacture aeronautical components and subassemblies.
Image copyright cumbredenegocios
This industrial facility in the Aerotech Park
next to Querétaro
International Airport
will be dedicated to the production and assembly of helicopter and aircraft
components, such as tail booms, vertical stabilisers and doors.
“Eurocopter is constantly seeking
opportunities for improving its global supply chain, and we have found an
attractive industrial environment and a ready supply of skilled labor in
Querétaro,” said Eurocopter de Mexico chief executive officer Serge Durand “We
strongly believe in the future success of this new facility. Such high tech
value work packages will feed Eurocopter’s supply chain in Europe.”
The new plant is to be ready for product
deliveries beginning in late 2012.
“Eurocopter’s initial investment in the
facility is the equivalent of approximately U.S. $ 100 million,” explained
Dieter John, Eurocopter’s executive vice president. “In the long-term, Mexico
will benefit from investments amounting to as much as $ 550 million, driven by
the Queretaro plant’s future development, along with overall growth of
Eurocopter de Mexico’s activities and the expected arrival of additional
suppliers and subcontractors in the region.”
“I am very happy to participate in the
cornerstone-laying ceremony for this new industrial site, which will contribute
to making Querétaro a true aeronautical cluster,” said Tonatiuh Salinas Muñoz,
secretary of sustainable development of the State of Querétaro. “The Autonomous University of
Queretaro will definitely play a major role in training an important part of
the facility’s future staff, expected to reach approximately 180 employees by
2015.”
The plant’s groundbreaking event, including
the placement of a symbolic cornerstone by helicopter, was broadcast via
satellite to Mexican officials, Eurocopter delegates and attendees of the
Economic Forum at Querétaro’s Conference Centre.
Welcoming Eurocopter’s industrial presence
in Querétaro, Frédéric Garcia, chief executive of EADS in Mexico said
that this new investment was in line with EADS’ vision while significantly
contributing to the development of the Mexican aeronautical industry.
