Airbus in Spain

Spain is one of the four founding nations of Airbus, hosting over 14,000 employees across eight specialised sites in Madrid, Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia. As the leader of the national aerospace and defence sector, Airbus generates € 2.8 billion in Spanish gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts for 60% of all aerospace and defence exports from the country.

The aviation heritage of Airbus in Spain traces back to 1923 with the founding of Construcciones Aeronáuticas S.A. (CASA) and the pioneering invention of the autogyro. CASA established Spain's foundational aerospace manufacturing capabilities and became a core founding partner when European nations united to form Airbus in 1970. CASA was fully integrated into the Airbus family in 1999, laying the ground for Spain to become a central hub for military transport aircraft, composite aerostructures and space technologies today.

Airbus Commercial Aircraft specialises in designing and producing aerostructures at its sites in Getafe, Illescas and Cádiz. The Illescas site is the company's global centre of excellence for composite materials. The Spanish sites design, engineer and manufacture horizontal stabilisers for all Airbus commercial aircraft, including the A320, A330, A350 and A350F. Other key components produced include section 19 (the rear fuselage) and lower wing covers for the A350, as well as fan cowls for the A320neo.

Airbus in Spain actively advances technological initiatives designed to improve fleet efficiency and lower carbon emissions. Key facilities include the ZEROe Development Centre and Airbus UpNext, which focus on testing hydrogen technologies and future passenger aircraft concepts. Spanish teams also lead projects within the European Clean Sky 2 research initiative, using platforms like the C295 Flight Test Bed 2 to test novel aerostructures designed to reduce CO2 emissions, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and noise levels.

Airbus invests more than € 555 million annually in R&D in Spain, allocating around 10% of total revenues to research and technology. With an 18.5% growth in R&D activity in recent years, Spanish engineering teams file over 40 European patents annually. Spain is also home to one of Airbus’ global ProtoSpace centres for rapid prototyping.

Airbus works closely with more than 1,300 local suppliers in Spain, partnering with major industry leaders such as Indra, Aernnova, ITP Aero, and Siemens. In Andalusia, Airbus anchor sites form the heart of the regional aerospace cluster in Seville. Furthermore, Airbus collaborates with more than 20 universities and vocational institutes, providing internships and educational programmes to train the next generation of aerospace engineers and technicians.

Airbus partners with education bodies, vocational centres and universities across Spain to prepare its workforce for high-tech digital assembly environments. Through structured vocational training (Formación Profesional), apprenticeships and the new Aerospace Academy at its Getafe site, the Company delivers accredited technical instruction. These programmes focus on advanced manufacturing disciplines – including carbon fibre composites, automated assembly and avionics – creating clear career pathways for local talent into high-value aerospace manufacturing roles. 

While active final assembly lines (FAL) and high-security manufacturing sites across Getafe, Seville, and Albacete are not open for drop-in public tours due to strict safety and industrial security protocols, Airbus actively engages with the academic community. Through structured STEM outreach initiatives, university partnerships and vocational education collaborations, Airbus hosts scheduled school groups, academic delegations and student tours.