Aeronautics: Sabca partners with Pilatus to set up assembly plant in Morocco

Swiss aircraft manufacturer, Pilatus, and Belgian aerospace company, Sabca, have sealed a deal for the assembly of PC-12 aerostructures in Morocco.

The deal, which was inked Monday by Pilatus and Sabca CEOs in presence of Morocco’s minister of Industry Moulay Hafid Elalamy, will give impetus to aerospace ecosystem set up in the Kingdom to attract investors to the thriving industry in the country.

Sabca will invest more than 17 million euros in the construction of a new 16,000-m² facility that will house the PC-12 aerostructure assembly line in the Nouaceur industrial zone, in Casablanca.

The first fuselage and wing structure assembled at the new Sabca facility in Casablanca will be ready for delivery to the final assembly line in Stans, Switzerland, by the end of 2022.

The Casablanca facility will assemble fuselages, wings and flight controls including the electrical wiring installation. Sabca will deliver these components to the final assembly line in Switzerland where they will be integrated with the aircraft’s other systems, power plant and cabin interior.

The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turbine-powered plane designed to perform various missions including corporate transport, cargo, air ambulance…

“We are very proud to have been selected by Pilatus for such a substantial work package”, says Thibauld Jongen, CEO of Sabca. “This is the result of excellent teamwork and it marks the start of the collaboration between Pilatus and Sabca.

For his part, Industry Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy said: “We are proud of this new long-term partnership between Pilatus and Sabca Maroc”. This project will strengthen the Moroccan aerospace perspective and will help accelerate the sector’s growth, sustain its position as a best quality production platform and drive skill improvement through the development of new technological activities, underlined Mr.Elalamy.

This mega-project shows “the great ability of Morocco’s local supply-base to meet international OEM’s expectations such as Pilatus. It also confirms the credibility of Morocco as a big partner of aerospace industry, its resilience and competitiveness in this new context of crisis”, added the Moroccan official.