Safran inaugurates new plant in Malaysia

Sendayan, Malaysia – Safran has inaugurated its new Messier-Bugatti-Dowty (Safran) plant in Sendayan, Malaysia. To support its strong business growth in the Asia-Pacific region, Safran, a leading supplier of carbon brakes for commercial airplanes, chose Malaysia, where the aircraft fleet is posting strong growth, as the location of the new Messier-Bugatti-Dowty carbon disk facility. Located near the Kuala Lumpur international airport, the plant will span 10,000m² (108,000ft²) 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 complements 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).