Airbus ropes in 2 Bangalore cos into global supply chain

BANGALORE: Aviation major Airbus said on Wednesday it has entered into engineering services agreements with two Bangalore-based companies, QuEST Global and CADES Digitech, as part of its strategy to expand its global supply chain.

In a press statement released by Airbus, the aircraft manufacturing giant’s agreement with QuEST will have the latter focus on servicing Airbus's wing and pylon engineering activities, with CADES concentrating on fuselage engineering activities.

The statement also said that the new agreement were aimed at consolidating Airbus’ engineering services already bought from several suppliers, and to focus the development of competences with the two tier-I suppliers. Each will have offices in Europe, and dedicated centres in India.

The announcement comes less than a month after ET had reported that CADES and QuEST had outbid marquee software firms Infosys and Wipro, to land the estimated $300-million outsourcing contract.

Airbus, the France-based aircraft manufacturing unit for EADS, has seen its order book grow exponentially in India, as it looks to consolidate its position in one of the most lucrative aviation markets in the world. North American rival Boeing too, has firmed up its plans of setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul operation, which is expected to be functional by 2013.

Earlier this year in January, low-cost airline IndiGo placed an order, estimated at $15.6-billion, for 180 Airbus A-320 upgraded aircrafts, to be delivered from 2015. The order was touted as the largest aircraft deal in the world, at the time of the announcement.