Canadian aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier Aerospace, on 7 February announced the start of production of what it described as "simple components" at its transitional facility at Casablanca's Mohammed V International Airport in Nouaceur. Production comes after a graduation ceremony was held on 1 February at the Institut des Metiers de l’Aeronautique (IMA), following which 18 aircraft assemblers began manufacturing their first Bombardier components. |
| Bombardier's CRJ series (Bombardier) |
The Bombardier Aerospace transitional manufacturing facility in Morocco
is currently producing simple structures including flight controls for
the CRJ Series aircraft. By year-end, the facility is expected to employ
approximately 100 fully trained aircraft assemblers.
“This is a very exciting milestone for us as we start to see our operation in Morocco take form,” said Hugo Brouillard, General Manager, Bombardier Aerospace, Morocco. “With 18 new local employees fully engaged and trained in the Bombardier manufacturing process and philosophy, this is the first step towards a long future of quality component manufacturing at another world-class Bombardier facility.”
Source [Bombardier]
Following the initial announcement in November 2011 of Bombardier’s intention to build a manufacturing facility in Morocco, the Company has extended its timeline for the construction of the new facility as the manufacturing plan evolves. In order to keep to its production schedule, Bombardier has set up operations in a transitional facility located at the Nouaceur MidParc Export Processing Zone in Casablanca's Mohammed V International Airport near where its future permanent facility will be based.
Bombardier Aerospace chose Morocco for a number of reasons: internationally competitive manufacturing costs, low shipping and transportation costs, proximity to Europe, and the commitment by the Moroccan Government to the development of the aerospace industry.