Airbus signs partnership agreements with Indian firms

Major aircraft manufacturer Airbus has signed long term partnership agreements with Indian firms to make crucial aircraft parts like wings and fuselage.

Strategic agreements Indian tier one suppliers QuEST Global Engineering and CADES Digitech, aimed at tapping the country's engineering talent pool, an Airbus statement said here.

While QuEST would focus on Airbus wings and pylon engineering activities, CADES would work on Airbus Fuselage engineering activities.

The two firms, selected from over 20 suppliers, would work on a broad list of critical engineering activities across different Airbus aircraft programmes, the statement said.

QuEST was chosen "for their good core engineering skills and strategic orientation towards engineering", it said quoting Matthew Orchard, Head of Design of Airbus Wing and Pylon Engineering Centre of Excellence.

Robert Nardini, Airbus Vice President and Head of Fuselage Engineering Centre of Excellence, was quoted as saying "we are impressed by the ability of CADES to propose the right solution to reach the excellence required in Engineering services for Airbus".

Besides their dedicated centres in India, both the companies would also have offices in Europe to meet Airbus requirements.

Another Airbus Vice President for Industrial Cooperation, Srinivasan Dwarakanath, said "on top of our Airbus Engineering Centre in Bangalore, these new long term partnerships demonstrate our commitment to support and benefit from India's flourishing aerospace sector.