Strata, Mubadala Investment Company’s aerospace manufacturing unit, is in talks to manufacture aircraft engine parts for the first time, capitalising on opportunities arising from a global shortage.
The Al Ain-based company is close to finalising a deal to start the process early next year, acting chief executive Sara Al Memari told The National during the Dubai Airshow.
“This is something really exciting and is one of the, let's say, hot cakes within the market,” she said. “We are actively looking into it and hopefully we will be closing something. We're pushing to Q1.”
Ms Al Memari did not disclose which entity the deal in discussion is with.
The global aviation industry is currently experiencing a severe shortage of jet engines and spare parts. The industrywide supply chain crisis, rooted in the pandemic, geopolitical tension and labour shortages, is costing airlines billions and forcing them to ground aircraft and continue operating with older, less efficient planes.
Together, these factors reduce aircraft availability, lengthen maintenance turnaround times and raise costs across the industry, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
The global aviation body says aviation’s supply chain is under intense pressure. Aircraft deliveries fell to just 1,254 in 2024 – about 30 per cent below the pre-Covid peak – while the backlog swelled to a record 17,000 jets, according to Iata’s estimate last month.
Supply chain challenges are projected to cost the airline industry more than $11 billion this year, driven by delayed fuel savings and higher maintenance costs, as well as excess engine leasing and spares inventory, Iata said in an October report.
Engine issues alone have grounded hundreds of aircraft, leaving airlines short of capacity, it said.
Strata says carbon-fibre will be one of the materials used to build the Boeing 777X, according to Ms Al Memari. “It is not yet quantified in terms of which part of the aircraft [it will be used for]. We are still in the negotiating phase,” she said.
Strata’s high-tech facility in Al Ain is capable of providing carbon-fibre prepreg materials – fibre and resin combinations cured under heat and pressure – for the primary structure applications in Boeing’s 777X programme, added Ms Al Memari.
The Strata Syensqo Advanced Material (SSAM) facility in Al Ain, which is in partnership with the Belgian company Syensqo, will be manufacturing the raw material specifically for the 777X aircraft.
The facility is ready and currently, in the qualification phase. “We should start manufacturing by the end of the first quarter of 2026,” Ms Al Memari said,
Asked about the capacity that SSAM will have, Ms Al Memari did not specify how much they will be able to produce annually, but said they are “fully sold out for the next 10 years” to manufacture components for the 777X. She also did not disclose the value of the contract with Boeing.
Seeking contracts for single-aisle planes
Strata is also seeking contracts for single-aisle planes. “We are talking to multiple [OEMs]. It is one of the things that we are currently looking at,” said Ms Al Memari.
Asked why it was taking so long to strike any deal for the manufacturing of single-aisle parts, Ms Al Memari said: “This is a new thing. Anything new you want to start, you start slow and you build up to it.”
In talks with Comac
In reference to partnerships with manufacturers beyond Airbus and Boeing, Ms Al Memari said Strata is also in talks with Chinese state-owned aerospace manufacturer Comac about “any potential collaboration, but there’s nothing yet”.
Ms Al Memari added: “Joining the aerospace industry is not as simple as onboarding a new customer.”
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Strata employees at its Al Ain plant. Strata is the region’s biggest producer of advanced composite aircraft parts and one of the anchors of Abu Dhabi’s economic diversification efforts. Courtesy: Ministry of Presidential Affairs. -
Set up by Mubadala in Al Ain a decade ago to position the UAE in the global aerospace supply chain, the company has billion-dollar contracts with Boeing, Airbus, Italy’s Leonardo and Switzerland’s Pilatus Aircraft. -
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed tours Strata in June. -
Strata, like other global manufacturing companies, pivoted to the healthcare sector after Covid-19 disrupted the aviation industry. The company used its manufacturing capabilities to make N95 masks in partnership with Honeywell. -
But it is its plane component manufacturing that put the company on the map. -
It delivered its first ever Boeing 787 vertical fin – a component that provides stability to the aircraft – to the Chicago-based planemaker. -
As part of Strata's 10-year partnership with Boeing, the UAE supplier also makes 777 empennage ribs, 787 vertical fin ribs and composite empennage ribs for Boeing’s new 777X airplane. -
The delivery, which was made on December 2, marks the first 787 vertical fin fully assembled outside of Boeing's US facilities -
A general view of Strata Manufacturing PJSC, at Al Ain International airport. -
Challenges of completing production during the pandemic included the logistics of sending Strata employees for training in Boeing's facilities in the US and applying strict health and safety regulations in its Al Ain plant. -
"When it came to the production line, the curveball with the pandemic was historic," Ismail Abdulla, Strata's chief executive, said. -
Mubadala has teamed up with Honeywell and leveraged its Strata operations to produce N95 masks. Courtesy Mubadala -
Strata is also looking to diversify into the health technology sector, as the pandemic fuels demand for medical equipment.
Expanding into non-aerospace verticals
Strata is also looking to expand into non-aerospace verticals. It is partnering with SailGP for catamaran boats and working with the space industry to manufacturing satellite parts.
“We're growing,” Ms Al Memari said. “We're going to be adding couple of verticals. We're focusing not just on the aerospace industry] … we are looking into different verticals.
“One of them is the SailGP, which is a sports thing. And then, we are looking into satellite [parts manufacturing]. When it comes to space, we are building the MRO service.”
SailGP last year announced a new production-based partnership with Strata Manufacturing for the latter to supply parts of SailGP’s F50 catamarans.
Growing business
Strata, which has a five-year business plan in place, starting 2026, reported a 38 per cent increase in the manufacture and export of aircraft components to its aerospace partners in 2024, compared the previous year.
The company, which currently operates 30 production lines, manufactured and delivered 11,774 aerostructure components last year, compared to 8,530 components in 2023. Since it was established 15 years ago, Strata has shipped 100,000 aerostructure components for wide-body aircraft.
