- Gomez-Guillamon will continue to have his “usual” board of directors, currently made up of representatives from Alestis Aerospace, Mecanizados y Montajes, Torsesa, Ayesa Air Control, Airgrup, Fada-Catec, Gaha-Aranda, Grupo Sevilla Control, Satys and Titania.
The members of the Andalusia Aerospace Cluster, meeting in a general assembly, have unanimously re-elected the CEO of the Malaga TechPark-based company Aertec, Antonio Gomez-Guillamon, as president of the Association.
The Andalusian association has highlighted in a statement that it has reached its fifth year in the Andalusian aerospace sector with a “significant increase” of members, but with “great challenges” to overcome the “serious” economic crisis in the sector after the pandemic.
Gomez-Guillamon, in his second mandate at the head of the cluster, has expressed his “emotion and gratitude to have the trust of the associates”, considering it as the “reflection of the good work done together during these last 4 years”.
In his re-election message, the president of the association stressed “the importance of the unity of the sector under the umbrella of the Andalusian cluster”. Moreover, he thanked “the confidence of the companies for joining Andalusia Aerospace, going from 22 companies in 2018 to 82 today and how the feeling of belonging has been increasing”.
He also referred to the “main objectives that have been set”, which are aimed at “the generation of value through synergies and collaborations between all, the diversification of activities, technological innovation and the increase in the internationalisation of the sector”.
He is confident that the next four years “will be a time of great effort for the recovery of the sector after the covid-19 crisis”. “The aerospace sector has undoubtedly been one of the most affected by the pandemic as air traffic has been paralysed and has not yet recovered its full activity,” he stated.
In relation to the rest of the Assembly, in addition to approving the Association’s budget for the 2022 financial year and the annual accounts for the 2021 financial year, an assessment of the last year was made by the Cluster’s managing director, Juan Roman.
Roman explained some data from the latest report on the sector by the cluster, which showed a 27% drop in turnover and a 16% drop in employment, due to the effects of the pandemic. But at the same time, he was optimistic about the increase in aircraft production rates forecast for the coming years, according to the data being handled in the sector.
Afterwards, the latest associated companies since the last Assembly were welcomed, namely Alter Technology, MCE, Sintersa and DHV Technology. In addition, the alliances recently signed with the Cadiz Naval Maritime Cluster and the Railway Innovation Hub were highlighted, in line with the objective of diversifying and seeking alliances in neighbouring sectors.
Regarding the aid to the sector, members have been reminded of the next call for the Aerospace Technology Plan (PTA) with a budget of 80 million for this year and that of the Grouping of Innovative Entities (AEI) with 50 million for 2022. Both calls will allow innovation projects to be presented through consortia formed between cluster members to accelerate digital transformation, specialisation in new aerospace segments and the sustainability of companies.
The recent approval of Perte Aerospace was also discussed, which is a great opportunity, but there is concern that its initiatives could reach the sector’s SMEs.
- Aerospace Commission
On another hand, the recently created Aerospace Commission within the Andalusian Confederation of Employers (CEA), which has been promoted by the cluster, has also been discussed. This commission, made up of representatives from all areas of the sector, mainly aims to monitor the progress of the Andalusian aerospace strategic plan 2020-2027.
The cluster maintains “permanent” communication with the Junta de Andalusia to ensure the completion of the projects included in this strategic plan, such as the Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Cadiz (Centro de Fabricacion Avanzada de Cadiz), the CEUS project of INTA as a test centre for unmanned vehicles in Moguer, Huelva, or the AndalSat project to build a satellite made entirely by Andalusian companies.
With regard to the 2022 plans, towards the recovery of the sector, three main objectives were defined: positioning the association at international level to show more strength in the region, generating more value for the member by identifying business opportunities, new projects and providing support in innovation and development, and finally strengthening the image of unity by bringing all the companies closer together.
The General Assembly was followed by an event in which the territorial director of the EOI, Francisco Velasco, explained the value of collaboration with the cluster and the possibilities of developing joint activities between different sectors.
The event concluded with a conference on ‘Innovation as a system’ given by Strategyco partner Jose Maria Gonzalez-Alorda. Stratergyco is a consultancy firm specialising in strategic business management.