Abu Dhabi aerospace joint venture secures first client

13 July 2016

Mubadala-Solvay team to supply composite material to Boeing

The joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company and Belgium’ Solvay, which is yet to be named, has secured the US’ Boeing as its first client for the carbon fibre pre-impregnated (prepreg) composite material it plans to manufacture.

The prepreg material will be used for the manufacture of the tail section and floor beams of Boeing’s long-range, wide-body 777 line.

The joint venture is to be operational by 2021 in a new facility built in Al-Ain in Abu Dhabi emirate, local media reports indicated.

The planned facility is in line with the efforts to deliver Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030, as well as in developing the emirate’s aerospace industry.

“Our commitment to purchase this prepreg material for the 777X meets several important goals for Boeing,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said. These goals are understood to include advancing the UAE’s aerospace industry to utilising high-quality materials in Boeing’s supply chain.

The UAE’s Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways are two of the largest airlines in the GCC. Both airlines have large Boeing fleets, with hundreds more on order to support their aggressive expansion plans.

Boeing is also looking to supply up to 100 aircraft to Iran, subject to the granting of a licence to sell aircraft to the Islamic State by the US Senate and House of Representatives.

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