The story
Prior to its establishment as an individual entity, the assets of Premium AEROTEC principally existed within the multinational aerospace group EADS. Its independence came as a consequence of several economic factors affecting the business; during 2007, EADS' management decided to respond to events, such a weakening US dollar and the high investment needed by both the Airbus A380 and A350 XWB airliners, by launching a restructuring initiative intended to streamline the group, divest several non-core activities, and cut costs. Accordingly, in September 2008, three factories were spun off from EADS to form Premium AEROTEC; from the onset, it operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, which has since been rebranded as Airbus Group. Aerospace periodical Flight International compared the move to Boeing's then-recent spin-off of Spirit AeroSystems.
The newly-formed Premium AEROTEC almost immediately committed to expansion in readiness for the production of forward fuselage sections for the A350 XWB airliner. Additional contracts for work on the A350 XWB programme were also received over the following years. In 2009, Airbus announced that, despite the impact of the Great Recession, it would maintain commitments to its suppliers at a steady rate to support them. In June 2010, Premium AEROTEC was reportedly on-schedule for its A350 XWB commitments.
In January 2009, Airbus stated its confidence that its recent spin-offs, including Premium AEROTEC, would be ready to seek out their own partners within three to five years. That same year, Premium AEROTEC was reportedly started to actively seek out additional customers for its products; having positioned itself as a Tier One supplier of aerostructures. During 2012, it was announced that the firm had developed a corrugated wing spar on behalf of the North American aerospace firm Boeing. While the company also performs work for a variety of other aerospace manufacturers, Premium AEROTEC remains closely aligned with the needs of Airbus, which is a leading customer as well as the owner of the firm. During 2014, it was announced that the company planned to employ 3D printing technologies in its regular component manufacturing process within two years.
In April 2018, Premium Aerotec chose to adopt Skywise, Airbus's digital services platform, with the goal of improving its supply chain processes. During early 2020, Airbus recorded a €100m restructuring charge in relation to Premium Aerotec.
From Wikipedia’s article on Premium AEROTEC, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5