Strata signs new deal with Swiss plane maker Pilatus to strengthen partnership

Mubadala aerospace unit's operations for Pilatus will be extended to include three work packages for Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24 business jets

Al Ain-based Strata has billion-dollar contracts with Boeing, Airbus, Leonardo in Italy and Pilatus in Switzerland. Wam

Strata, Mubadala Investment Company’s aerospace unit, has signed a new deal with Pilatus Aircraft as it continues to strengthen its partnership with the Swiss plane maker.

As part of an amended agreement, Strata’s operations for Pilatus will be extended to include three work packages for Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24 business jets, state news agency Wam reported on Wednesday.

“These new additions to Strata’s … production line operations highlight not only the pristine standards at Strata’s core but will showcase the firm’s technological expertise and use of ground-breaking materials,” the company said.

“Central to the work packages manufacturing process will be a number of autoclave products and Strata’s hot press,” it said, without elaborating.

The company will start manufacturing the products in the first and second quarter of 2023, with “multiple shipments per month fulfilling all requirements”, it said.

Strata's deal comes during a push by the UAE to develop its industrial capabilities, with a plan to more than double the contribution of the industrial sector to the country's economy to Dh300 billion ($81.68 billion) by 2031.

Earlier this year, the Abu Dhabi government said it will invest Dh10 billion across six industrial programmes to more than double the size of the emirate’s manufacturing sector to Dh172 billion by 2031.

Set up by Mubadala in Al Ain more than a decade ago to position the UAE in the global aerospace supply chain, Strata has billion-dollar contracts with Boeing, Airbus, Leonardo in Italy and Pilatus in Switzerland.

“Strata’s growth is centred on the continuing expansion of our expertise and capabilities,” Strata chief executive Ismail Abdulla said.

“This latest project with Pilatus positions Strata as a truly pioneering UAE manufacturer and is an important new chapter for our growing and talented Emirati workforce”.

In April, Strata announced it had won three work packages from Pilatus. Under an offset agreement between the Tawazun Economic Council and Pilatus, Strata will supply parts for the twin-engined PC-24 business jet.

“This new phase of operations will bring benefits to both firms, and signals the value of an ongoing collaboration which puts quality, expertise and innovation first,” Pilatus chief executive Markus Bucher said.

Strata is also expanding into biopharmaceuticals manufacturing as well as holding discussions with global electric vehicle makers to bring EV manufacturing to the UAE, Mr Abdulla said in June.