FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) is expanding its cooperation with Kineco Aerospace (Goa, India) to a second work package of composite components for Airbus (Toulouse, France). Included in CW’s 2026 Farnborough announcements, this new package comprises several thousand parts per year produced in India, with serial production scheduled to start by the end of 2027 following completion of a qualification milestone with Airbus.
The expanded agreement builds on a long-term supply chain deal the two companies signed at the 2025 Paris Air Show. The move reflects a deliberate strategy, says Andreas Furthmayr, EVP aerostructures at FACC: “India is becoming an increasingly important part of the global aerospace industry, and our strategy is to develop industrial capabilities there with trusted, long-term partners. We are not sourcing from a market — we are building capabilities with partners, and growing with them as India’s aerospace ecosystem develops.”
Rise of composites in India
The FACC deal is part of a broader buildout of aerospace composites capacity in India. According to CW's market forecast for 2025-2030, India is the world’s fastest-growing market for composites, with growth in the carbon fiber value chain projected to run at roughly twice the rate of other composite categories. That report names Tata Advanced Systems, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Rockman Advanced Composites, Adani Defence and Aerospace and Kineco Exel Composites among the parts manufacturers driving CFRP growth in the country, alongside domestic carbon fiber capacity under development from Reliance Industries and Jindal Advanced Materials.
CW’s 2026 Aviation and Advanced Air Mobility market outlook also noted the continued shift to Asia and rise of India. According to an Economic Times report in February 2026, Boeing aims to make India its largest foreign supplier base — it has more than 325 Indian suppliers of parts and services worth $1.25 billion — while Airbus is aiming to increase its part sourcing in India from $1.4 to $2 billion annually. Key developments:
(1) Airbus will manufacture the H125 helicopter in the southern Indian state of Karnataka and is establishing a factory to produce the C-295 military aircraft in the western state of Gujarat with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) — the first time Airbus has deployed an aircraft’s entire production system outside its home nation.
(2) Boeing signed an agreement in January 2024 for TASL to manufacture advanced composite assemblies for the 737 MAX, 777X and 787. The parts will be made in TASL’s advanced composites manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru and Nagpur and add to ongoing production of composite floor beams for the 787 in Nagpur.
Meanwhile, the joint venture Tata Boeing Aerospace Ltd. (TBAL) was established in 2021 and employs more than 900 engineers and technicians. It produces various secondary structures, shipped its first vertical fin structures for the 737 family in 2023 and has delivered 300 AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fuselages. The facility has also added a new production line for 737 fan cowl assemblies operating in coordination with the Nagpur and Bengaluru facilities.
Source | FACC
Source | Kineco Group
