Boeing A350 XWB

Strata Manufacturing, Mubadala Aerospace’s advanced composite aircraft structures plant in Al Ain, UAE, has won a work package to provide wing flap track fairings for the new Airbus A350 XWB.

Under the work package, Strata will provide its services to the Belgian company Sabca, which is acting as Airbus Tier-1 risk-sharing partner for the design, industrialisation and manufacturing of the A350 XWB flap support structures and flap support fairings. Strata also provides flap track fairings for Airbus’s fleet of A330, A340 and the A380 aircraft.

Strata CEO Ross Bradley said that the win reinforces Strata’s position as a leading global manufacturer of aerostructures and demonstrated the company’s capabilities in delivering cost-effective, high-quality products.

"Advanced composites are the future of aircraft manufacturing and Strata has been paving the way in this field and is recognised as an industry leader by major aircraft manufacturers; Sabca’s decision to award Strata this contract endorses our reputation as an industry leader," said Bradley.

The contract with Sabca will continue throughout the lifetime of the A350 programme, which is expected to exceed $200m by 2030, as well as take the company’s contractual work to over $1bn in the last 18 months, according to tradearabia.com.

Sabca CEO Daniel Blondeel said: "Sabca is a tier one supplier for several OEMs and is an expert in metallic and composite aero structures packages. Since the beginning of 2009, Sabca was selected by Airbus for the development and production of the flap mechanism and fairing assembly package of the A350.

"As a partner of Airbus, Sabca is today glad to have Strata joining the A350 programme and is confident that it will contribute to the success of the programme."

The new A350 XWB aircraft features a combination of fuselage and wing structures made primarily of advanced composites. The Strata facility is being jointly developed by Mubadala Aerospace and the Abu Dhabi Airports Company.

Image: Strata will provide the wing flap track fairings for the new Airbus A350 XWB aircraft. Photo: Airbus.