Jean-Paul Herteman, Chairman and CEO of Safran, today inaugurated the new Messier-Bugatti-Dowty (Safran) plant in Sendayan, Malaysia. Among the many personalities attending the inauguration ceremony were Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, Sultan of Negeri Sembilan, YAB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad Bin Haji Hasan, Chief Minister of Negeri Sembilan, and His Excellency Christophe Penot, French Ambassador to Malaysia.
To support its strong business growth in the Asia-Pacific region, Safran, the world’s leading supplier of carbon brakes for commercial airplanes, chose Malaysia as the location of the new Messier-Bugatti-Dowty carbon disk facility, to address the needs of this region, where the aircraft fleet is posting strong growth. Located near the Kuala Lumpur international airport, the plant will span 10,000 square meters (108,000 sq ft) and is specialized in the production of carbon brakes for commercial airplanes, especially the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families of single-aisle jets. It will have about 150 employees by 2018.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Safran Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Herteman said: "We are proud to inaugurate this new plant, the first of its type in Asia, which will support our business growth in the region. Malaysia is one of the world’s most promising aviation hubs, and by expanding our operations here we are consolidating our strong market position in the Asia-Pacific. We would like to express our thanks to the Malaysian government, the State of Negeri Sembilan and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) for supporting this project."
The Safran company, specialized in landing and braking systems, already provides equipment for more than 6,000 commercial airplanes worldwide , a figure that should surpass 10,000 by 2020. In Asia as a whole, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty provides carbon brakes for more than 2,000 airplanes, and this figure should exceed 5,000 by 2032. Messier-Bugatti-Dowty currently works with 18 different operators in Malaysia. It now outfits about 200 airplanes in service, with equipment for another 400 under order.
The new Sendayan plant is an ideal complement to Messier-Bugatti-Dowty’s existing carbon disk facilities, including two in France (Molsheim in Alsace, and Villeurbanne, near Lyon) and one in the United States (Walton, Kentucky). The plant was inaugurated after a year and a half of work, starting in July 2013, and represents a total investment of $130 million. The new plant will bolster Safran’s industrial presence in Malaysia, alongside facilities operated by two other Safran companies, Morpho (security sector) and Turbomeca (helicopter engines).
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