Premium AEROTEC: Important partner for all Airbus series production programmes

In less than three years, Premium AEROTEC has earned itself a sound reputation as a recognised high-performance partner in all Airbus series production programmes. Thanks to advanced technologies, materials, production processes and globally marketable manufacturing costs, Premium AEROTEC is already a Tier 1 supplier both for the single-aisle Airbus family (A318, A319, A320 and A321), for the long-distance versions A330, A340 and the Airbus flagship A380. Production sites in Augsburg, Bremen, Nordenham and Varel are integrated in Premium AEROTEC, as is the Romanian site of Ghimbav, which started operations in December 2010. The competence demonstrated in the current programmes also makes Premium AEROTEC one of the most important aerostructures suppliers for the new Airbus A350 XWB.

“We are the world's largest Airbus supplier of fuselage structures and want to further strengthen and expand our leading position for present and future civil and military programmes,” emphasises Premium AEROTEC management spokesman Joachim Nägele. “Along with the competence of our employees, our strengths lie in the innovative power and the specialisation that we have gained from the synergies of our activities in the aviation divisions. Last but not least, we benefit from the long years of experience gained at our German sites due to their previous integration in the EADS and Airbus programme structures,” Nägele continues.

Premium AEROTEC's core business includes the production of complete fuselage sections for the „small" Airbus aircraft A318 to A321 and for the A330 and A340, which are primarily deployed on intercontinental routes. These structures, referred to as „section 19", extend from the rear part of the passenger cabin to the rear end of the fuselage, which houses the turbine for the auxiliaries and the connections for the tail unit. A further specialist area of Premium AEROTEC is the production of around 5,000 large, complex fuselage shells annually, which are delivered pre-finished to Airbus, meaning that the surfaces are treated and the shells are partially equipped with integrated door and gate frames. The core competencies of Premium AEROTEC further include complex, highly-loaded metal structures for the Airbus fuselages (frames, floor beams and „keel beams") and the wings (flap guides and flap coverings for the entire Airbus family and the inner leading edge for the wide-body aircraft A380). State-of-the-art cutting technologies are used in these production processes.

On the Airbus A380 superjumbo, Premium AEROTEC demonstrates its entire range of technical competencies in the commercial production of heavily loaded lightweight structures, for example in the fuselage segments, which are welded by laser instead of conventional riveting, in the manufacture of fuselage shells in composite construction with glass-fibre reinforced aluminium (GLARE) and in the usage of components made of carbon-fibre reinforced composites (CFC).

Along with continuous basic and advanced employee training, Premium AEROTEC relies on sophisticated technology in all fields of development and application and is further expanding its leading position in the areas of both metal and CFC structures. The innovative, award-winning and patented manufacturing technologies include laser welding technology, milling and cutting technology for the precise and economical processing of high-strength metal alloys, and the Vacuum Assisted Process (VAP®) for the flexible, energy efficient and cost effective production of CFC aircraft components.

Premium AEROTEC GmbH has more than 7,000 employees and generated revenues of about 1.3 billion euros in 2010. Its core business is the development and manufacturing of metal and carbon composite aerostructures and the associated equipment and production systems. The company has production plants in Augsburg, Bremen, Nordenham and Varel in Germany, and in Ghimbav, Braşov County, Romania.