At the close of the Ordinary General Meeting of the Groupement des Industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (Gifas), held on July 4, Éric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, was re-elected Chairman of the group.
In his address, he recalled the solid performance of the aerospace industry - the leading contributor to the national trade balance - which in 2018 achieved sales of €65.4 billion (+1.2 %), with activity recorded in the civil sector for 77 % and exports accounting for 85 % of consolidated sales.
Éric Trappier was also delighted with the results of the latest edition of the 2019 Paris Air Show, which was a commercial success, with 140 Md$ of orders announced: "This 53rd edition is a good vintage, because the show was a resounding success, unanimously recognized as such, in all areas. There were more than 316,000 visitors, including almost 180,000 during the general public days, with a fine air show. These days are particularly important to me. They are a key factor in inspiring young people to take up aerial careers, and in raising the profile of our profession.
At the Paris Air Show, Éric Trappier spoke of "the structuring moment for European industry and the future of European defense, which took place in the presence of the French President and the French, German and Spanish defense ministers. The NGF, a new-generation fighter and an integral part of the Future Air Combat System (Scaf), is on track. A major symbol of Franco-German cooperation, joined by Spain, this program will commit governments and industry for many years to come. We have no choice but to succeed. Dassault Aviation and Airbus have taken a major step forward by submitting a joint industrial offer to the French and German governments for the initial demonstration phase of the program, with the public presentation of models of the new-generation fighter and support UAVs. Let's not forget that behind Dassault Aviation and Airbus, there's also Safran, Thales and tomorrow part of the French supply chain. Of course, the German and Spanish supply chains will also be well represented in the program.
The Gifas Chairman also emphasized that the environment has become a central issue for the air transport industry, pointing out that "the aeronautics industry has been committed to global environmental objectives for a very long time now", and that today, Today, "every effort is being made to accelerate research and innovation, to move as quickly as possible towards technological breakthroughs that will drastically reduce the carbon footprint of air transport, something that has not yet been achieved", underlining the importance of Corac, the Council for Civil Aeronautics Research. At the show, he also noted that the group had stepped up its efforts to support the supply chain, notably with the launch of the "Industrie du Futur" digital transformation program, aimed at boosting the competitiveness of the industry, and of SMEs in particular. He also mentioned the new "Aéro Fab Emploi" plan to support the attractiveness of the industry and the training of journeymen and technicians, which will be launched this autumn.
Finally, Éric Trappier drew attention to the space dimension of Gifas's activities, pointing out that the French space industry, a leader in Europe, is at a critical juncture just a few months ahead of the ESA Ministerial Conference.
In conclusion, he drew attention to the role of Gifas, with a membership of 399 companies.
Photo ©GIFAS
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