“The Industry is Advancing Faster Than Expected”
The president of AED Cluster Portugal, José Neves, assures that the sector has been generating increasing interest. An example of this is the growing participation in the AEDDays, with 665 participants, 210 entities, 22 countries represented, and more than 300 B2B meetings scheduled, the numbers from the 11th edition of the AEDDays surpass those of the previous one, leaving no doubt that it was a success.
The aeronautics, space, and defence sectors are growing in various dimensions. This is demonstrated not only by the economic impact but also by the growing interest from companies, organisations, and people in general, in the work developed by this cluster.
“Zero emissions and sustainable innovation are not ignored by aviation. Last year, we launched the Sustainable Aviation Talks and had 65 attendees. This year, we already have 190 people registered for tomorrow,” stated José Neves, president of AED, at the opening of the 11th edition of the AEDDays.
“The industry is advancing faster than expected,” assures the AED president, highlighting essential topics such as sustainable fuels, the use of hydrogen, or electric planes. Moreover, he emphasizes that some airlines are “facing major financial crises,” which, despite being “a concern,” can also be an opportunity for “Portugal to play a significant role in this market.”
Stephan Baur, a partner at Roland Berger, also drew attention to the “polycrisis” context affecting the aviation sector, emphasizing that it now needs to focus on “accelerating economic recovery and competitiveness” simultaneously with “sustainability. “On one hand, though, for example, the “optimization of the product portfolio,” and on the other, thinking about how “operations can be more sustainable,” which, in his view, “involves the new generation of commercial aircraft.”
As for Portugal, he argued that the country has been recognized as a “Best Cost Country” (that is, a country capable of producing quality products at affordable prices), and therefore, Portuguese companies need to “understand how to optimize production” to maintain this recognition. Besides “investing in new materials and technologies,” Stephan Baur argues that communication is fundamental to “attract investment,” as well as “suppliers” with the same productive capacity.
José Neves also argued, still at the opening of the AEDDays, that communication is “a super-power that is often forgotten” and that it should be used to “reinforce the Defence industry” at both national and European levels. In the opinion of the AED president, more “political courage to make decisions” is also necessary, which, he admits, “is not always easy because public opinion is not always open to it.”
Regarding the Oeiras City Council, the willingness to invest in this sector is significant. At least, that was the guarantee given by Pedro Patacho, councilor of the municipality: “Portugal has 300 municipalities. Oeiras is one of the smallest with 45 square kilometers. At the same time, it is the one that contributes the most to the Portuguese GDP, right after Lisbon. We have about 560 companies per square kilometer, and we want more. We have space to welcome them.” In this sense, Pedro Patacho assures, “the municipality of Oeiras already has companies in the aeronautical and space sector” and “plans to expand its capacity” to “create a hub for the aeronautical and space sector”: “It has also been in Oeiras that the AEDDays have been held and we are very proud of that,” he referred.
“Big companies” show interest in Portugal
The need for greater – and better – communication between everyone, the creation of synergies, and greater investment in the Defence sector, as a crucial area to boost the Portuguese and European economy, were themes transversal to the various interventions throughout the AEDDays.
Some of the companies present even took the opportunity to show that they were available to establish partnerships and continue to boost the sector in Portugal. This was the case with the aeronautics company Aernnova. According to Goretti Sampayo Fernandez, Chief Procurement Officer at Aernnova, when the company bought the Évora factory from Embraer it had “around 500 employees and currently has 849.” During the panel “Solving Aerospace & Defence Supply Chain Challenges,” which also included representatives from Canada Economic Development, Leonardo, and the Canadian Commercial Corporation, Goretti Sampayo Fernandez assured that the company is “really interested in making contacts with the local industry.”
The same challenge was posed by Eduardo Munhos de Campos, New Business Solutions at Leonardo, an Italian company in the aeronautical, security, and defence sectors that has been providing products and services to Portugal for over 25 years: “We are open – and it is part of our DNA – to working in partnership.”
The intentions expressed by the companies during the AEDDays did not go unnoticed by the president of AICEP, Filipe Santos Costa, who began his speech at the networking dinner by congratulating on the business opportunities for Portugal: “I am pleased to see that we have more and more partners available to establish partnerships.”
In addition to highlighting Portugal’s “competitive advantages,” Filipe Santos Costa reminded that “one of AICEP’s priorities is to negotiate with investors and ensure that companies have what they need”: “We are always available to attract more investment,” he stressed.
In an interview on the sidelines, the president of AED highlighted the presence of “big companies such as Leonardo, one of the largest manufacturers in the European space; Lockheed Martin – the largest aeronautical manufacturer in the Defence area; Airbus, which is in Portugal with two positions – a factory in Santo Tirso and a development center in Lisbon – and, in general, already has about 1500 employees in Portugal,” among others.
Furthermore, José Neves emphasized the “success of the participation of the Portuguese armed forces” and the “institutional sponsorship” of the Government, represented by the Secretary of State for Defence.
In the opinion of the AED president, one of the most important points of this event is that “everyone mentioned the great satisfaction of having been here with a common goal: working together.” An example of this was the enormous participation in the B2B meetings: “Besides having a room full of decision makers and experts, we also have many people talking to each other. We even shortened the duration of the conference so that they could have more time to network, and they are asking us to stay longer.”
On the first day of AEDDays, there was also a space dedicated to the exhibition of technology, the Technology Showroom, where companies and organisations such as Leonardo, Meditor DAS, INESCTEC, TBW Aero, Lusospace, CCG, GMV, Glenair, Speedbird, Aeronext Portugal, and New Space Portugal were represented.
In the 2024 edition of AEDDays, we had, for the first time, two different itineraries for the usual industrial visits. On the first itinerary, it was possible to visit TAP, the main Portuguese airline company; Lauak, AICEP Global Parques and CEiiA – Centre for Engineering and Development, where the participants could get to know the LUS222 project, which aims to become the first aircraft designed and built in Portugal.
On the second itinerary, the route included the Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade (ISQ), the IST – NanosatLab, and Almadesign, an industrial design company for the aeronautics and transport sectors.