Funds to fuel take-off for aircraft design
FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a fresh £4.8 million funding boost for a new centre where the “next generation of aircraft” is to be developed.
Spirit Aerosystems’ new open access Aerospace Innovation Centre is based at its manufacturing site in Prestwick, where it says innovation will focus on the development of future aircraft.
It will also help develop the technology for composite materials and automated assembly used in the industry.
The investment will create 40 high-value jobs and leverage significant capital investment in infrastructure and equipment.
Over the next decade, the facility will further enable growth for industry-leading aerospace technologies and innovations and has the potential to create more manufacturing jobs.
The First Minister confirmed the funding as she visited the company’s manufacturing site. She said: “Just before last year’s Programme for Government I visited Spirit Aerosystems to set out our ambition for Scotland to develop, design and manufacture the technologies and products of the future, backed by an extra £45m for business research and development over the next three years.
“Research and development drives innovation and economic growth so it’s great to be back here to see that additional support helping not just Spirit, but also companies across Scotland develop new products.
“Today’s announcement underlines the importance of Prestwick as an aviation hub and as a key piece of Scotland’s industrial infrastructure, supporting jobs, investment and opportunity.”
Scott Mclarty, vice president for the UK and Malaysia of Spirit Aerosystems, said: “The new innovation centre will allow us to scale up our technology demonstrators and enable growth in advanced composite technologies and automated assembly.
“The centre will operate on an open access basis creating an environment that fosters supply chain and academic collaborations. This will strengthen the ability of Spirit and our partners to secure work on the next generation of aircraft.”
Steve Dunlop, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “The creation of the open access Aerospace Innovation Centre at Prestwick will help cement Scotland’s position as a global centre of aerospace excellence.
“It is a truly transformational project that takes full advantage of the world-wide growth in aircraft manufacturing, has the potential to create a number of jobs in the South Ayrshire region and beyond, and enhances Scotland’s international reputation for nurturing and promoting innovation.”
The First Minister announced £2.1m fundcomplement ing for Spirit Aerosystems last year to produce the “spoiler” wing component – a device used to reduce the lift of an aircraft in a controlled way – for the Airbus A320 aircraft.
The fillip comes after Prestwick lost out to Sutherland to be come Scotland’s first spaceport and in a climate of concern over the future of the Scottish Governmentowned Prestwick Airport.
The new grant will provide Spirit Aerosystems with state-of-the-art research and development facilities and give access to other companies for their R&D, either independently or in collaboration with Spirit.
The Aerospace Innovation Centre will other recent investments or commitments in engineering and manufacture in Scotland.
These include the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS), Lightweight Manufacturing Centre, Advanced Forming Research Centre including the recently announced phase 2, Futureforge.
In 2016 Kansas-based military aircraft specialist Spirit, which employs around 1,000 in Scotland, opened a £5m finishing centre for parts for Airbus and Boeing at Prestwick.
The company designs and builds large aerostructures including fuselages, pylons, nacelles and wing components, for commercial and defence programmes.