Aerostructures

In 2023, Aciturri has strengthened its commitment to the development of a sustainable aeronautical industry and diversifying its customer and product portfolio, joining new projects that will contribute to the necessary transformation of the sector.

As far as the market is concerned, Aciturri's main customers continue to expect a gradual recovery in sales over the next few years. In the single-aisle segment, customers demand a ramp-up to meet their demands, while long-haul traffic is improving. The demand for twin-aisle aircraft is already expected to return to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2023, Aciturri strengthened its commitment to developing a sustainable aeronautical industry and diversifying its customer and product portfolio. It joined new projects that contributed to the necessary transformation of the industry and joined companies that are committed to more sustainable products as industrial partners.

During this period, Aciturri signed a Design&Build contract with the American company Boom Supersonic for the supply of the complete Overture aircraft empennage. This contract means Aciturri's participation for the first time in a supersonic aircraft propelled by SAF sustainable fuel, in which it also assumes engineering responsibility. During 2024, product definition activities will take place to achieve a PDR (Preliminary Design Review) state of maturity, for which Aciturri plans to have a specific team located at the US company's facilities in Denver, Colorado. The objective in this first phase of the project is to achieve the RDP completion by 2025.

Aciturri has signed a design & build contract with Boom Supersonic for the supply of the complete empennage for the Overture supersonic aircraft.

At the same time, Aciturri has further consolidated its relationship with EMBRAER by reaching a joint agreement with the Brazilian firm and its subsidiary Eve Air Mobility to develop and manufacture the composite parts for the wing skins, spars, leading edges and trailing edges of its eVTOL. The project will officially start in February 2024, and the prototypes are scheduled for delivery in 2025.

The signing of this new contract strengthens Aciturri's position as a supplier in the Urban Air Mobility market, a segment that the company had already entered as a supplier to Lilium Jet.

With Boom Supersonic and Embraer, these projects significantly intensify Aciturri's involvement in projects that promote the industry's transformation towards a sustainable model.

Concerning OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers), the company has strengthened its order portfolio by signing two agreements with Airbus and Boeing: one with the former for the A320 Cabin Air Duct package and another with the latter to manufacture all elemental and final assembly and integration of the complete B737 MAX rudder. This latest contract, directly signed with Boeing, boosts the American firm's confidence in Aciturri and paves the way for further growth in new opportunities for any of its programs.

Aciturri consolidates its relationship with EMBRAER by reaching a partnership agreement with the Brazilian firm and its subsidiary Eve Air Mobility.

The team continues to work on various commercial projects, aiming to increase current volumes with significant OEM and establish partnerships with new electric and hydrogen-powered aviation customers.

Involvement in the Lilium program has been consolidated with delivering the first airframe to the customer for the first full-scale trials. Aciturri's teams quickly developed, manufactured and assembled the entire component, meeting the German company's business objectives. Afterward, work started on the next deliveries, which are due to take place during 2024 and will allow the first flight tests to be carried out. This milestone has secured Aciturri's position as a supplier of aerostructures for new air mobility concepts.

Industrialization of components for Deutsche Aircraft's D328eco^TM continues according to plan. During 2023, manufacturing tests were carried out to ensure the first deliveries planned for the coming year and the development of all the industrial resources required for its successful execution. Deutsche Aircraft awarded Aciturri the "Best Performer on D328eco^TM Programme" award in November 2023 as recognition of the successful prototyping campaign and the first full-scale component production.

The Lilium program participation has been consolidated with the delivery of the first airframe to the customer for the first full-scale testing.

Concerning Dassault, Aciturri is progressing in the industrialization of the new Falcon 10X Business Jet, in the Design&Build programs for the tail cone and landing gear hatches, to complete the delivery of the first aircraft required for EIS (Entry In Service). This strengthens the company's position within Dassault regarding participation in programs with design and manufacturing responsibility for new products and increases the possibility of exploring new collaboration and development avenues for engineering and certification activities associated with delivering the first elements to the customer.

The new contract with Calidus for its B250 platform continues in development. Upon delivery of the first aircraft, showcased by the customer during the Dubai Airshow, Aciturri will continue to deliver the aircraft needed for Calidus to complete the planned test campaign in 2024.

Regarding Airbus' A220 program, the A220 HTP (Horizontal Tail Plane) sub-assembly transfer has been launched, and the product has been industrialized. The first deliveries will be made at the end of the year.

Concerning the programs with the leading OEM, Aciturri continues to work in 2023 to meet the commitments acquired with its customers, reorganize its industrial footprint and develop the necessary actions to take on the confirmed rate increases in single-aisle aircraft and the workload increases that may result from the demand for twin-aisle aircraft.

The operational integration of Alestis and Aciturri's aerostructures business generates synergies to consolidate the company's industrial footprint.

To satisfy the entire value chain of the products Aciturri delivers, from the supply chain through the company itself to the end customers, in 2023, Aciturri continued the deployment of its Quality First project, of utter importance to ensure the improvement of product quality and to align the quality levels demanded by the end customers. The Programs team provides the necessary support to ensure that both mass-produced and new products are designed, manufactured, and delivered in compliance with quality standards and concurrently, the necessary adaptations are made to ensure the quality requirements are met.

Aciturri will continue to deliver in 2024 the necessary aircrafts for Calidus to complete the planned test campaign.

In the Airbus programs, we accomplished all the deliveries for the A320 family (single-aisle) for 2023, and following the client’s request, we started the ramp-up for this aircraft by taking significant steps toward improving production management and implementing industrial solutions to increase Aciturri's processes capacity and robustness. The industrialization phase for a new assembly line for the HTP and its mass production has been completed, allowing more robust processes and adapting a legacy program to the current state of the art to cope with rate increases without significant complications. The requests have been confirmed in the rest of the client's programs. Work has been carried out on several A350 product changes to improve the aircraft's competitiveness and the new A350 freighter activities.

Regarding the Boeing B787, Aciturri is concluding the industrialization phase of a new program and has secured a contract for cargo floor beams to cover Boeing's needs. This reactivation has been successful, and the customer has praised the effort and the result, leading to a better position as a supplier.

Concerning Airbus Defence&Space, Aciturri is currently engaged in the industrialization phase of the F10X programs to develop and manufacture the rudder, elevator and assembly of the HTP and VTP spars. In the case of the C295, Aciturri assisted the customer in preparing the documentation and industrial plans that the company has defined with India.

Aciturri successfully delivered all other programs and continues to work with clients to seek improvements.

PRODUCTS

WING

FUSELAGE

FAIRING

MOVABLES

EMPENNAGE

TURNOVER 2023

€366,507 K

(€179,621 k in 2022)

In 2023, Aciturri delivered structure components for 1,133 aircraft

(163 MORE THAN IN 2022)

826

single-aisle aircrafts
201

twin-aisle aircrafts
16

business jets
50

helicopters
39

military aircrafts
1

eVOLT aircraft

MAIN CLIENTS

THE MOST RELEVANT PROGRAMS

A220
A320
A380
A350 XWB
A400M
BELUGA XL
C295
EUROFIGHTER
B737
B777
B787
NH90
Legacy 450/500
Legacy Praetor
C390
F10X
F7X
LILIUM eVTOL
B-250
D328eco^TM
Overture
EVE eVTOL

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