The aerospace cluster ‘Hamburg Aviation’ will be represented at this week’s Farnborough International Airshow for the second time. Julia Grosser, the organisation’s marketing manager, will speak about the opportunities European industry networks hold for aerospace companies and the challenges of a ‘hard’ Brexit.
The networking cluster, Hamburg Aviation, is active on behalf of the aviation industry in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, this includes Airbus, Lufthansa Technik, Hamburg Airport and more than 300 other companies, employing a total of more than 40,000 highly qualified personnel.
Together, they cover the complete lifecycle of an aircraft, from the design, manufacture, and fitting out, to the global system of air transportation, maintenance, repair and overhaul, and finally to the recycling.
Furthermore, Hamburg offers universities, training facilities, and leading research institutions. Combined this makes the metropolitan region the third-biggest site in the civil aviation industry worldwide.
Julia Grosser, Hamburg Aviation’s marketing manager, explains why the Farnborough Air Show 2018 is an excellent opportunity for the networking cluster to extend its network and deepen business relationships.
Grosser explained: “This year, we will exhibit the aerospace Hamburg Aviation for the second time at Farnborough Airshow. Synergeticon and Jetlite, two members of our cluster network, will also be given the opportunity to exhibit their products at our stand.
“At the Airshow, our organisation represents both Hamburg as an innovative place for aviation industries, as well as the ZAL, the Centre for Applied Aviation Research GmbH.”
ZAL, Hamburg’s Centre of Applied Aeronautical Research, is the technological research and development network of the civil aviation industry in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.
The institute is a combination of academic & research institutions, the aviation sector, and the City of Hamburg, aimed at securing and continually expanding the world’s third largest civil aviation location in Hamburg.
“We are glad that the ZAL Centre for Applied Aeronautical Research (Hamburg), CRIAQ (Québec) and CARIC (Canada) signed a cooperation agreement at Farnborough International Airshow and the major aerospace research hubs of Hamburg and Montreal are expanding their collaboration.
“In the presence of leading representatives from the two regions, including the Deputy Premier of Québec, Dominique Anglade, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is crucial for the future.”
The MoU makes it possible to expand the existing research cooperation between the ZAL Centre for Applied Aeronautical Research and its Canadian partners, CRIAQ and CARIC, in fields that include aircraft cabin acoustics and composite fibre materials.
Grosser added: “In our role as an agent of the European Aerospace Cluster Partnership, we will be visiting international partners, strengthening existing collaborations through letters of intent, and we will be deciding on new projects with our partners within our European network. It is essential to us that Farnborough is an international event.”
How do you see future opportunities and challenges for European companies regarding collaborating with aerospace companies?
Grosser said: “For many years, Hamburg Aviation has been adopting an international orientated business strategy. We analysed a variety of European markets and identified the regions of Rzeszow in Poland, Preston/Bristol in the UK and Evora/Lisbon in Portugal as promising markets.
“In an iterative two-stage process, we chose to concentrate our business strategy on these three markets. But, unfortunately, a panel of experts found that the technical infrastructure in the region of Preston/Bristol did not fit our purposes. Also, the market was too consolidated.
“Nonetheless, we are still interested in collaborating with the aerospace industry in the UK. At the moment, we are mainly working with the trade association ADS. Earlier this year, we organised a matchmaking event at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg together with ADS.”
In 2017, twenty thousand visitors and more than 700 exhibitors attended Passenger Experience Week in Hamburg; the world’s largest passenger experience event.
How could the British government better communicate Brexit to businesses?
Grosser concluded: “Hamburg is an essential location for Airbus – the aeroplanes are manufactured here in Hamburg, and they are through and through European products. We have heard that Airbus would not welcome a hard Brexit at all.
“Furthermore, the company would consider leaving the UK if the British government doesn’t negotiate the right conditions for the industry. Thousands of employees could be affected. At Farnborough, we are interested in learning more about how the aerospace industries will be evolving in a European context.”
Hamburg Aviation will be at the Farnborough International Airshow for the second time (16-22 July 2018). If you want to find out more about Hamburg Aviation at Farnborough, please click here.
