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  AERONAUTICS
With its two Airbus plants and recognised skills in preassembly and composites, Nantes Saint-Nazaire is the second-largest aeronautics centre in France. This is a leading position which will be strengthened thanks to the development of two industrial parks near the Airbus plants which will provide a wide range of opportunities for sub-contractors to set up there.
A dedicated composite park in Nantes
Supported by the Airbus plant’s recognised skills in implementing thermo-setting and thermo-plastic composite materials as well as the emergence of the EMC2 pole, the city of Nantes intends to attract new companies, essentially cocontractors and sub-contractors for major purchasers (Airbus,
Aker Yards, DCNS, Bénéteau, automobile companies) to strengthen its industrial framework. Carrying on from the 50-hectare extension of the Airbus site intended for the production of the A350 and future programmes, a 70-hectare multi-sector park - divided into two 50 and 20-hectare sub-sections - will be developed. The first 50-hectare area, intended for composites and aeronautics, will host 3000 to 10 000 m2 industrial sites while the other site, for the tertiary sector (design offices, engineering departments, etc.) will be dedicated to SME-SMI who need less than 3000 m2.The installation of this park is also intended to develop partner research projects to improve companies’ competitiveness by using the resources of the Technocampus (16 000 m2, 300 researchers) which are located on the site.
An airport platform in Saint-Nazaire
A European-scale logistics and airport platform will be built on a 200-hectare site as an extension to the Airbus site and the Saint-Nazaire port. Its objective : to enable industrial companies (shipbuilding, aeronautics, and so on) to benefit from the infrastructures - a multimodal hub to provide optimum accessibility, land available for any type of industrial installation and a tertiary area at the gates of the Airbus site dedicated to aeronautics-related service activities – which
will guarantee them increased effectiveness in production organisation. For Airbus this airport platform is a vital interface for access to heavy carrier planes and the waterways close by are more than ever a major asset for the group’s European logistics. So, within this scope, 20 hectares will be given over to a logistics area (planned for 2008) intended to ensure the supply of equipment and semi-equipment parts for the assembling and equipping of sections. In 2009 the aircraft manufacturer will open its Polaris IV building intended to host the assembly of forward and central
sections for the new generation A350. To assist Airbus with this increased activity, a 15 ha area is
already available for any aeronautics sub-contractors who want to establish a partnership with the manufacturer within an extended business structure. These set-up opportunities are especially attractive in that they benefit from first-rate logistics infrastructures and an advantageous economic environment.
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