Midi-Pyrenees strong points

Leading European concentration of civilian aeronautics
Airbus world headquarters (55,000 employees world-wide, including 16,000 in Agglomeration of Toulouse)

Assembly site for A300, A310, A320, A330, A340, A380.

Leading test center in the world for aeronautics structures and materials 

© Airbus 

• 25% of French aeronautics research resources
  
  
• all professions of the sector are present in Midi-Pyrenees, from design to testing, from construction to maintenance, as well as air traffic management, and dismantling of end-of-life aircraft.  The leading prime contractors include Airbus, the SNECMA Group, Latecoere, Ratier Figeac, EADS Socata, Liebherr Aerospace, Thales Avionics, Air France Industries, ATR, Rockwell-Collins France.
  
  
• Dedicated aeronautics zones:
  
  Aeroconstellation: near the aeronautics parks of Blagnac, Colomiers and Toulouse, this industrial zone of nearly 300 hectares houses all types of industrial installations for aeronautics construction and maintenance, and in particular, Airbus France’s A380 assembly plant.
  
  Pyrène Aéro Pôle: adjacent to the Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées airport, Pyrène Aéro Pôle specializes in three areas: industries, online service businesses, and logistics.  The industrial zone, covering about 140 hectares, includes an area dedicated to aeronautics, with the premises of EADS SOCATA, and in the near future, a European aeronautics maintenance center to recycle aircraft at the end of their service life.
  
  The Rodez-Marcillac airport (10-hectare industrial zone), the Cahors-Lalbenque aerodrome, Engachies industrial zone (in Auch, Gers), Lafourcade industrial zone (in Gimont, Gers), Albasud (120-hectare industrial park in Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne), Eurocentre (multi-modal logistics hub covering 300 hectares north of Toulouse), Delta Sud (technology park in Varilhes, Ariège), Lavigne (80-hectare industrial zone in Auterive, Haute-Garonne), Activestre (17-hectare industrial zone in Carbonne, Haute-Garonne) and Les Landes (115-hectare business zone in Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne).
  
  SPL of Mechanical Engineering Valley extends from Tulle to Rodez via Figeac and Decazeville. This SPL is the largest regional pool of mechanical engineering and production firms for the automotive, aeronautics and machine-tool industries. Mechanical Engineering Valley pools 111 companies.
  
  

• An Action Plan for the Development of Regional Subcontracting Companies (ADER)  to enable all of the aeronautics companies to organize and cope with changes in this economic sector.
  
  
  The results of the ADER I plan for 2000/2004 provides positive impetus, with more than 1,000 individual and collective actions benefiting 429 small and medium businesses. Investments total €23 million, with €15 million contributed by the Midi-Pyrenees Region.
  
  
  The success of ADER I led to the establishment of ADER II, in response to industrial changes in the sector, in particular :

-   The emergence of new companies, which can position themselves as industrial partners, providing a global offer for first-tier subcontracting,

-    Maintenance of a significant core of companies providing subcontracting overflow capacities, and therefore acting only as second-tier suppliers, along with specialized suppliers,

-    The need to foresee major changes brought about by disruptive technologies (composites, the all electric airplane).

The ADER II plan is one of the pivotal projects of the Aeronautics, Space and Embedded Systems Cluster

• Midi-Pyrenees, offering a forum for debate, exchange and business encounters:
  
  AEROMART: Leading international business convention in Europe bringing together prime contractors and suppliers, takes place every 2 years, the next convention is programmed for December 2006.
  
  SPEEDNEWS: 6th Annual Aviations Industry Suppliers Conference in Toulouse (AISCT), September 19-21, 2005
  
  WORLD AEROSPACE SYMPOSIUM:  Market forecast & Industry Briefings. The last symposium took place in Toulouse in February 2006.