Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar will meet with senior executives from aviation and aerospace giants Airbus and Boeing on a trade mission to the UK today.
Varadkar will visit the Farnborough International Air Show, which is returning after a four-year absence, and he will also meet members of the Irish consortium that has been awarded the Eurocontrol SESAR3 programme for funding to build an unmanned aviation ecosystem in Shannon.
The consortium includes Avtrain, Collins Aerospace, Future Mobility Campus Ireland, and other partners, and Irish companies Airtel ATN, A-TechSYN, Avtrain, Emerald Aerospace Group (EAG) and Shannon Airport Group will be exhibiting at the Enterprise Ireland Pavilion at the show.
The Tánaiste is scheduled to meet with Spirit AeroSystems, a leading manufacturer of aerostructures for commercial aircraft and defence platforms, and attend a roundtable lunch with representatives from ADS NI Group, Aerospace Wales Forum, GKN Aerospace, North-West Aerospace Alliance, and Space Wales.
Varadkar will also meet with Moroccan Minister for Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour to discuss opportunities for Irish aero sub-suppliers, and attend a reception at the Enterprise Ireland Pavilion, alongside Welsh Minister for Economy Vaughan Gething.
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"The aviation and aerospace sector employs 42,000 people here, with the industry providing a value of €4.1bn to the Irish economy. So it’s really important to our overall economic success and this Air Show is a great opportunity to showcase our offering, form new relationships and hopefully grow business," said Varadkar.
"The past couple of years have been incredibly tough for the sector but the resilience and talent of the Irish businesses represented here is inspiring. We will continue to back Irish businesses to compete and win on a global stage.”
When last held in 2018, the Farnborough International Air Show saw more than $192bn worth of deals completed. Many of Ireland's 250 companies active in the aviation and aerospace sectors will showcase their innovations at the event this year.
Tom Kelly, divisional manager for industrial and life sciences at Enterprise Ireland, said: “Many of Enterprise Ireland’s client companies are at the forefront of essential capabilities and services for aviation and aerospace, including MRO, leasing, precision engineering, air traffic management, unmanned aerial vehicles, training and international consulting.
"At Farnborough today, we are looking forward to connecting these companies with global opportunities across traditional areas of expertise, but also looking to the future in terms of new modes of mobility and creating the sustainable aviation solutions of the future.”
The trade mission coincides with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Emerald Aero Group (EAG), a cluster of 11 Irish aerospace companies, and the global aircraft engineering consulting and services provider Hummingbird Aero.
The EAG companies collectively work in precision engineering, plastics moulding, tooling, 3D printing, fabrication, surface treatment, thermoforming, and multi-axis CNC milling and turning.
Photo: Leo Varadkar. (Pic: Getty Images/Getty Images)
