February 9 (SeeNews) - Austria-based aircraft parts manufacturer FACC has launched production activities at its plant in Croatia's Jakovlje, following initial investment of 10 million euro ($11.4 million), the municipal council said.
“The first phase of the construction of the plant has been finished and according to the business plan of FACC Solutions Croatia its second and third phase are planned for the next two years,” the municipal council said in a press release last week.
FACC officials did not respond to a SeeNews e-mail seeking further details about the investment by the time of writing.
FACC Solutions Croatia will manufacture lightweight cabin interior components for commercial and business aircraft. The plant has already delivered the first series of parts of interior segments for aircraft to Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, the municipal government said.
According to the municipal council, FACC's plant is the largest investment so far in Jakovlje and it was completed despite the coronavirus pandemics, which put on hold many other investment projects and impacted globally the revenue of the aviation industry. The plant will bring employment and will encourage further economic growth of the municipality, it said without elaborating.
The plant in in Jakovlje. Zagreb county has an initial footprint of 10,000 square metres, FACC said on its Facebook page last month.
The company announced in mid-2019 that the overall investment in the plant will reach 30 million euro and it will create up to 600 qualified jobs. Originally, production was planned to start in 2021 but in 2020 FACC said it would re-evaluate its 33-million-euro project in Croatia as part of measures to deal with a fall in demand due to the coronavirus.
The FACC group is owned by Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and manufactures components for aircraft wings, tail assemblies and fuselages as well as engines and cabin interiors for all major aircraft makers.
($=8.747 euro)