Aircraft
France’s Aerospace, Defense and Space Sectors are Prospering
Government support and foreign contract sales have led to a thriving French aerospace industry, with things likely to get even better.

French aerospace association Gifas (Hall 1, Stand A1/A10) announced in May that 2015 represented a new record year, with significant growth in exports. Gifas president Marwan Lahoud (who is also Airbus Group’s chief strategy and marketing director) said that the sector was in good shape, with orders reaching €78.3 billion ($88.1 billion) and the order book now representing five years of production.

Much of this is driven by Airbus, which has an order book of more of €1,000 billion ($1,113 billion) and 10 years of production. Revenues in 2015 reached €58.3 billion ($74.4 billion or +8.5 percent) with a forecast demand for 32,600 commercial airliners over the next 20 years, meaning the future is rosy, according to the Gifas, which believes around half of them should be built in Europe by Airbus and its suppliers.