Czech manufacturer Aero Vodochody has signed its first manufacturing contract with EADS/Airbus for delivery of subassemblies for A320s and A340s. For the first stage of the programme, estimated to last from four to six months, the 166 different small aerostructures components called for in the contract will be furnished to Aero Vodochody by EADS’s Military Aircraft business unit at Augsburg. Then the Prague-based company will manufacture the parts itself. EADS Augsburg says the deal is “part of a wider-ranging effort by Airbus to increase business with east European and Russian suppliers with the aim of bringing costs down and diversifying the manufacturing base”.
Source: Flight International