Airbus’ industrial cooperation with India began in 1988 when an agreement was reached with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to manufacture passenger doors for the A320 aircraft. Today, HAL produces half of all A320 forward passenger doors. In addition, Airbus’ list of Indian partners and suppliers has expanded to encompass engineering, IT services, training, technical publications, research and technology, and the manufacturing of parts and some sub-assemblies.
Today, Indian companies – and over 1,500 Indian employees – contribute to virtually all Airbus aircraft programmes.
In recognition of the country’s strategic importance, Airbus has made a long-term pledge to play a major role in the development of India’s aviation sector. The Airbus Engineering Centre India Pvt. Ltd. (AECI) – a 100 per cent Airbus-owned subsidiary – is a recent example of this ongoing commitment.
Specialising in high-tech aeronautical engineering, the India engineering centre works hand-in-hand with other Airbus Engineering offices around the world, as well as with the Indian aviation industry. As of early 2009, 100 people were working at the facility – including home-grown engineers and other employees – and this number is expected to grow to 400 over the next four years.
The Bangalore-based centre focuses on the development of advanced capabilities in the areas of modelling and simulation, covering such areas as flight management systems, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), as well as digital simulation and visualisation – which are critical factors in the design and production of high-performance aircraft such as the A380 and the A350 XWB.
As part of the Airbus Engineering Centre India’s activity, a simulated A380 flight management system is being developed in cooperation with Airbus engineers in Toulouse, France. This effort will help Airbus systems engineers provide mature specifications for the suppliers of flight management systems (FMS) – which are key elements of modern jetliners, and also can be used in research and development work on evolved FMS functions for new programmes such as the A350 XWB.
As part of AECI Research & Technology activity, Airbus is in negotiations with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology and the National Aerospace Laboratory to commence several projects during 2009.
In addition, Airbus Training India (ATI) initiated its operations in Bangalore and has since provided maintenance training to Indian-based airline operators.
Airbus is working in partnership with CAE of Canada to establish ATI as a full-fledged flight training centre, with the capability to train up to 1,000 pilots annually utilising 10 simulators. It also will offer maintenance courses in fully equipped, state-of-the-art classroom facilities.
This centre currently is under construction near the new Bengaluru International Airport, and the facility’s initial two simulators have been operational since 2008 for recurrent training.
Airbus also works directly with Indian companies in the design and manufacture of aerostructures and strongly encourages its major Tier 1 partners to do so as appropriate. Dynamatic Technologies Limited from Bangalore has partnered with Spirit AeroSystems to manufacture a complex machining component and assembly (Flap-Track Beams) for the A320, the world’s most popular single-aisle aircraft programme.
Through its Tier 1 suppliers, Airbus also is engaging local companies such as TATA, HAL and Quest for the manufacture of sub-assemblies and detail parts. Additionally, the Airbus Aero-structures Supplier Council has identified India as one of the top “Cost Competitive Country” destinations for aerostructure manufacturing.
Furthermore, Airbus has initiated several engineering projects with Indian companies. Infosys, HCL, CADES, Satyam and Quest have been selected to provide Engineering Services to various aircraft programmes, including the A380 and A350. In addition, Sonovision-Aetos in Bangalore and Infotech in Hyderabad have been set up as dedicated centres for work on Airbus Technical Publications.
Airbus continues to pursue other potential areas of cooperation with India, including air traffic control/air traffic management and safety management.
From the commercial point of view, Airbus-built aircraft have become a key element in the operations of Indian-based airlines. Starting with the 1976 delivery of an A300 to Indian Airlines, the fleets of Indian carriers now include both single-aisle and widebody Airbus aircraft, and will expand with the future introduction of A350s and A380s by Kingfisher Airlines.
