An electric aircraft factory will come out of the ground, 1,500 jobs at stake

A new aircraft assembly line in Toulouse? Nothing really revolutionary a priori in the cradle of Airbus. Except that the establishment of this factory on the side of Francazal airport, announced on Thursday, has nothing to do with the aeronautics giant. We owe it to a “little thumb” who is starting to make a lot of noise with his rather silent planes since they are “electric hybrids”. It’s about by Aura Aero, a start-up founded in 2018 that is slowly and surely gaining market share. It announces that it has received 330 letters of intent to purchase for its ERA model (for electric regional aircraft), a 19-seater regional aircraft, so series production is scheduled for 2025.

The schedule is therefore accelerating and the current Francazal premises, which mainly house engineers, are far too small to accommodate an assembly line. From the ERA, but also from the Integral, the two-seater aerobatic which has already won over a hundred potential customers.

” Industrial Revolution “

The Aura Factory, the most virtuous factory possible in terms of energy flow, will be built on an area of ​​40,000 m2, with the support of the Toulouse metropolis and the Occitanie Region. It should be operational within 30 months. “This new site will be sized to produce around 150 aircraft per year, 50 Integral and 100 ERA, specifies the manufacturer in a press release. To this end, the workforce will increase from 130 people currently to nearly 1,600 employees at the site’s maximum rate. »

“The trust placed in us by many airlines around the world demonstrates the desire of aviation to move quickly towards decarbonization, with environmentally friendly aircraft. We intend to be among the leaders of this industrial revolution”, assures Jérémy Caussade, co-founder and president of the aircraft manufacturer.

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