The French aerospace industry has a rather light presence at the Farnborough International Airshow. According to the GIFAS (Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales, Hall 4 Stands 41155, 41360, 41455,), which federates 391 aerospace companies, the France Pavilion will gather 40 exhibitors at its 641-sq-m booth. This number does not include big groups like Safran or Thales. Rather, it consists of small-medium companies such as Figeac Aero, Latécoère, AD Industrie, Mecachrome, AHG, Potez Aéronautique, and big groups such as Air Liquide, Aubert & Duval. Normandie Aerospace is exhibiting with some regional companies.
"We are working on a few business meetings between French subcontractors and foreign OEMs," said a GIFAS spokesman. Likewise, some meetings are planned with the UK Department for International Trade and representatives from the Scottish, Mexican, and Canadian aerospace industries. On July 18, a bilateral UK-France seminar will cover collaboration between British and French industries as well as topics such as Industry 4.0, digital, and additive manufacturing
In 2017, the French aerospace industry logged “a new record year with a 6 percent increase of our turnover, reaching €64 billion [US$74 billion],” reported GIFAS president Eric Trappier (who is also chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation) in April. Air transport has been the key driver of growth, while the business aviation and helicopters sectors remain weak. The industry recruited 12,000 employees in 2017, bringing the total to 190,000 workers. The same amount of recruitment is envisioned for 2018 to secure expected ramp-ups in production at Airbus.