The Airbus factory in Getafe (Madrid) is the largest industrial facility in Spain, employing some 10,000 people. The center, which also serves as the company’s headquarters in Spain, is responsible for the design, manufacture, and assembly of components for both commercial and military aviation. The latter sector boasts excellent prospects due to European rearmament strategy.
“The scale of what we do in Spain [Airbus also has large factories in other locations such as Illescas, Albacete, and Seville] extends far beyond the Spanish market itself,” said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury at a meeting with a small group of Spanish journalists, including representatives from EL PAÍS, at the company’s Getafe headquarters.
“Basically, all our activities in Spain are growing. We have no intention of building new plants, at least in the short term. We already have a presence and are expanding our facilities, but not the number of plants. The next big step will happen in the next decade, when we have to replace the A320 [Airbus’s single-aisle passenger aircraft]. But that will be an issue for the next decade. We will have to decide where to locate the production facilities then, and Spain has a strong position to attract investment,” said Faury, who met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez before the meeting.
The relationship between Spain and Airbus is at a particularly strong point after the company secured major military contracts under the Special Modernization Programs (PEM) launched by the Spanish government to raise defense spending to the equivalent of 2% of GDP. These contracts include the purchase of 32 NH-90-3 helicopters, a new training system for fighter pilots based on the Turkish Hürjet platform, and the PEM related to the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), in which Airbus is partnering with Indra.
This latest program — the largest military initiative in the European industry, with an estimated investment of more than €100 billion ($115 billion) to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet by 2040 — is facing upheaval due to the dispute between France, which is leading the project through Dassault, which produces the Rafale fighter jet, and Germany over whether there will ultimately be one aircraft or two, sharing the same combat cloud. Spain, the project’s third partner but with a much smaller industrial role than the other two, is trying to mediate between the parties.
“Airbus has the capability to successfully lead the development of aircraft, whether commercial or combat. We can manage such programs in partnership with other companies, since, for example, we don’t manufacture engines. If we are contracted to develop a sixth-generation aircraft with partners, we believe we are capable of doing so,” said the executive, who warned: “We have to be quick, because there is a global race to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet.”
The current geopolitical climate is pushing European countries to rapidly expand their military capabilities after years of neglecting a defense industry that has historically struggled for public backing. Europe’s goal is to strengthen its strategic autonomy so that its security is not dependent on the United States, a partner that has drifted away from major European powers following Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Even so, that long‑sought military independence “does not seem to be on the table in the short term,” according to Faury.
“Before the war in Ukraine, the U.S. invested five times more in defense equipment than Europe,” said Faury. “Furthermore, we had a situation where Europe bought less than 10% of what the U.S. bought from its own companies from European suppliers. And this went on for a long time. A lot of sophisticated equipment now comes from the U.S. We must have a short-term vision of buying more European products, but we can’t buy everything here because not everything is available in Europe.”
“Do we want to achieve zero dependence on the U.S.? I’m not sure that’s the best approach. Perhaps a certain degree of cooperation with the U.S. and mutual dependence is the best approach. But then we have to guarantee the security of supply and reliability of our partner. Today, the perception of reduced predictability and reliability is driving the need for greater sovereignty over critical systems and capabilities. It’s a long-term strategy, but achieving significant change will require 10, 15, or 20 years.”
Merger with Thales and Leonardo
The biggest deal in the European aerospace sector in recent years was confirmed last year with the agreement between Airbus, the French company Thales, and the Italian company Leonardo to merge their aerospace businesses. This project, which does not yet have an official name but is known as Bromo, will result in a company with 25,000 employees and annual revenue of €6.5 billion ($7.5 billion).
“We have agreed on the governance we want for the future. We have a plan for the integration of our businesses,” said Faury. “We are bringing together the existing assets of three different companies in a similar way to how MBDA [the largest European missile manufacturer, owned by Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo] was combined. We are preparing the separation of activities to create this entity and are in the process of obtaining approvals, particularly antitrust approvals. All of this will be completed in 2026, perhaps in early 2027. We would like to close the deal as soon as possible, but in the meantime, we continue to operate as separate companies.”
This is a good example of the consolidation expected in the defense sector, as indicated in EY’s latest report on the state of the military industry in Spain. The report from the consultancy firm states that the entire sector, from SMEs to large companies, supports the creation of larger companies that will drive growth.
“In sectors like defense, aviation, and space, our role is to develop and deliver highly sophisticated products that require significant investment but are delivered in small quantities,” said Faury. “Therefore, if you want to be competitive, you need to have the right scale […] In these times when security has become crucial, it is important to join forces to create a scale that allows us to be competitive on our own.”
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
