In the two years since Rolls-Royce sold ITP Aero to Bain Capital, the Spain-based aero engines and components group has unleashed its independence to expand both its manufacturing and aftermarket businesses through connections with Rolls-Royce’s rivals.
While it remains a supplier to the Trent family of engines, ITP Aero now also benefits from the positions it has on Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan and Honeywell’s HTF7000, as well as involvement with Airbus’s ZeroE hydrogen airliner program and as the Spanish engine partner for Europe’s Future Combat Air System.
“This is a long cycle business and our growth has come from being new platforms but also from the market recovery,” ITP Aero president Eva Azoulay told AIN. In the last full financial year, it increased revenues by 25% and earnings by 50%, and the uptick seems to be continuing as the company expands its customer base.
ITP Aero now also reaps the rewards from increased investment in new technology, with more than $600 million spent on research and development in recent years. Much of the focus centers on new materials and additive manufacturing
Approval for Additive Layer Components
On Monday ITP became the first aircraft engine maker to receive EASA design organization approval and the corresponding production organization approval from the Spanish Air Security Agency for structural components manufactured with additive layer technology. The certified structural components are vanes for the rear structure of the Europrop TP400 engine for the Airbus A400M military transport aircraft.
ITP Aero is now building its new Admire research-and-development center at Zamudio in Spain. The €24 million ($26 million) investment will support further advances in digital and advanced manufacturing techniques.
On Tuesday, Pratt & Whitney Canada extended the maintenance, repair, and overhaul contract under which ITP Aero supports mid-turbine frames and the low-pressure compressor on PW800 engines for Gulfstream G400, G500, and G600 business jets. Under the contract first signed in 2021, ITP serves as a risk and revenue partner in the support offering for the engines.
To expand production capacity as it confronts the same supply chain issues experienced across the industry, ITP Aero is expanding its casting capabilities in Mexico. Last year, the group’s global workforce across six countries grew by 11% to more than 5,500 people. According to Azoulay, the U.S. is proving to be the hardest employment market in which to recruit key skills.
“Resilience and agility are strengths for us, allowing us to support production ramp-ups,” Azoulay said. “But what keeps me awake at night is getting the right people into the company and training them to enable growth and how to work better with our suppliers.”