Airbus Atlantic

Airbus Atlantic was established on 1 January 2022 as part of Airbus’s reorganization of its aerostructures and cabin-related activities. The new company combined Stelia Aerospace with Airbus-owned facilities at Bouguenais and Montoir-de-Bretagne in western France. This was an integration of established industrial operations rather than the creation of a business without prior manufacturing history. A major predecessor was Sogerma, whose lineage extended back to French aeronautical organizations founded in the 1920s and subsequently reshaped through mergers, nationalization and the development of France’s postwar aerospace industry. Activities in Bordeaux and Mérignac were progressively associated with aircraft assembly, maintenance, repair, conversion and equipment work. In 1957, SNCASO and SNCASE merged to form Sud-Aviation. Sud-Aviation later became part of the wider organization created in 1970 through the combination of Sud-Aviation, Nord-Aviation and SEREB, which was initially known as SNIAS and later as Aérospatiale. The Mérignac operation became SOGERMA in 1970, with a focus on the maintenance and repair of aeronautical equipment. Over time, the business developed or acquired capabilities in aerostructures and aircraft seating. In 1988, activities associated with the Charentaise Society of Aeronautical Equipment, historically connected with Lioré and Olivier, contributed to this structural and seating portfolio. Sogerma became an EADS subsidiary in 2000. A significant change took place in 2006, when Sogerma separated its maintenance, repair and overhaul activities, which moved to Sabena technics within the TAT group. Sogerma thereafter concentrated more strongly on aerostructures, seats and armchairs. During the following years, the company benefited from increased production rates on Airbus and ATR programmes and won work on projects including the A350 central landing-gear bay and Airbus A321 section 14A. In 2010, it acquired a large Rochefort property formerly associated with Zodiac Aerospace, and in 2013 it continued expanding its premium passenger-seat operations through new production and office facilities in Rochefort. The business later operated as Stelia Aerospace, carrying forward the aerostructure and cabin expertise accumulated through Sogerma and related organizations. On 1 January 2022, Airbus combined Stelia Aerospace with its own facilities in Bouguenais and Montoir-de-Bretagne to form Airbus Atlantic. The resulting company became a wholly owned Airbus subsidiary responsible for substantial aerostructure and selected cabin-manufacturing activities. Airbus Atlantic’s operations include design, engineering, industrialization, manufacturing and assembly. Its customer and programme base reaches beyond Airbus and includes aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer and Dassault, together with airlines purchasing or specifying cabin products. The company’s reported workforce exceeds 13,000 employees distributed across three continents. Its continuing role is that of a major industrial partner in the global aircraft-production system, supplying structural assemblies and seating rather than selling complete aircraft or operating passenger services.

1. 2022Airbus Atlantic is created

   Airbus formed Airbus Atlantic by combining Stelia Aerospace with Airbus-owned facilities in Bouguenais and Montoir-de-Bretagne. The company began operating on 1 January.

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2. 2006Maintenance activities separated

   Sogerma’s maintenance, repair and overhaul activities were transferred to Sabena technics, allowing the remaining business to focus more closely on aerostructures and aircraft seating.

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3. 2000Sogerma becomes an EADS subsidiary

   Sogerma entered the EADS group, linking its manufacturing and engineering activities to the European aerospace group that later became Airbus.

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4. 1988Aerostructure and seating capabilities expanded

   Activities associated with the Charentaise Society of Aeronautical Equipment contributed to Sogerma’s later aerostructure and aircraft-seat portfolio.

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5. 1970SOGERMA becomes financially autonomous

   The Mérignac operation became the Girondine Society for the Maintenance and Repair of Aeronautical Equipment, or SOGERMA, within the French aerospace-industrial structure.

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6. 1924Origins of the Sogerma industrial lineage

   An early predecessor, Dyle et Bacalan, was established in Bordeaux, beginning a chain of aeronautical industrial organizations later associated with Sogerma and Airbus Atlantic.

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A large aerospace original-equipment manufacturing and supply-chain specialist focused on airframe structures and selected aircraft-cabin products.

• Aircraft aerostructuresAircraft structures

  Airbus Atlantic designs, industrializes, manufactures and assembles structural aircraft components. The work covers complex airframe parts and production support for aircraft programmes, requiring large-part manufacturing, precision assembly, certification-quality controls and coordination with aircraft original equipment manufacturers.

• Fuselage sectionsFuselage structures

  Fuselage sections and related large assemblies are a central part of the company’s aerostructures portfolio. These products are manufactured for integration into complete aircraft and are supplied through programme relationships rather than sold as consumer products under an independent retail brand.

• Aircraft cabin equipmentAircraft interiors

  The company retains cabin-equipment capabilities inherited from Stelia Aerospace and its predecessors. This work supports aircraft interior programmes and can include engineering, manufacturing and integration of equipment specified by aircraft manufacturers or airline customers.

• Pilot and passenger aircraft seatsAircraft seating

  Airbus Atlantic produces aircraft seating for pilots and passengers, with particular emphasis on premium first- and business-class cabins. Seating activities combine product engineering, industrial production and cabin-programme coordination for aircraft manufacturers and airlines.

• 2022Consolidation of aerostructures and cabin activitiesStrategy

  Airbus had aerostructures facilities of its own in western France and also controlled Stelia Aerospace, which carried established structural and seating capabilities inherited from Sogerma and related businesses.

  What changed. Airbus combined Stelia Aerospace with its Bouguenais and Montoir-de-Bretagne facilities to create Airbus Atlantic as a dedicated group company.

  Aftermath. The new entity became responsible for a large portion of Airbus-group aerostructures and selected cabin activities, while continuing to serve other aircraft manufacturers and airline customers.

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1. Airbus Atlantic