Aviation Civile

© S. de Bourgies/Abaca Press
6 INTERVIEWS WITH…
SuSTAINAbLE DEVELoPMENT: WHAT PRoGRESS? 7
Jean-paul herteman is chairman of the GIFAS 1 , organiser
of the 49 th Paris Air Show Le Bourget. He has drawn up a generally
quite positive assessment of the French aeronautics, space
and defence and security electronics sectors.
A center of excellence
for the national economy
how healthy is this sector of French
industry?
The sector remains a center of excellence
centre for the national economy.
It is the largest export sector and also
the foremost in terms of trade surplus.
The results for 2010 in this field show a
recovery, even if the effects of the crisis
have not been totally eradicated.
Thanks to the dynamism of the air
transport market, with an increase of
27% in registered orders, 71% of which
are in the civil sector. For the seventeenth
consecutive year the total value
of orders is greater than the turnover. It
is true that equipment suppliers’ turnover
has slightly decreased but the strong
growth in orders taken (+34%) indicates
that their situation will improve.
Aviation Civile magazine No.358_ June 2011
I would also like to highlight the supportive
attitude of the prime contractors
towards their suppliers and sub-contractors,
the effective intervention of
the government to help SMEs and the
efforts made to reinforce the supply
chain. These actions have been crucial
in mitigating the effects of the crisis.
what are the challenges that will
need to be taken in the future?
I think that there are three main ones.
Firstly, mastering of the future technologies
necessary to respond to the
development of air transport, requirements
of air carriers, environmental
regulations and increase in oil prices.
Next comes employment. The technological
challenges that we are going to
A DyNAMIC SECToR
oF THE ECoNoMy
Top French exporter in the sector
(73% consolidated turnover)
Top French trade surplus
(18 billion euros)
157,000 jobs
27,000 recruitments since 2008,
8000 of which in 2010
face will mean that we have to develop
our skills. We need to recruit highly
qualified staff, acquire new know-how,
provide training support, etc.
Finally, we will need to go and find
the growth wherever available and
that could be anywhere in the world. A
number of countries are now creating
their own aeronautics industry; they
offer of development opportunities for
French industry. The setting up of local
sites, particularly in emerging countries,
is becoming a necessity. Working
for large foreign programmes will also
increase the competitiveness of the
equipment suppliers. This globalisation
and the reinforcement of the domestic
aerospace industry are complementary.
It should be remembered that every year
in France we are investing 1 billion
euros in production capacity.
what are you expecting from
the paris Air show le bourget?
I think that this 49 th air show will mark
the recovery. There will be 2000 exhibitors
from 42 countries and 150 aircraft
at the renovated exhibition site. Yet
again the SIAE 2 has confirmed its place
as the number 1 air show.
Interviewed by béatrice Courtois
1/ GIFAS: French aeronautic and space
industries group.
2/ SIAE: French international Air Show
at Le Bourget.
© H. Goussé/Airbus S.A.S.
In January 2008, on the eve of the
financial and economic crisis, the French
aviation sector made significant
commitments by signing an agreement
with the minister for sustainable
development, as part of the dynamic
created by the Grenelle Forum for
the Environment. other crises have
followed in succession, shaking the air
transport sector: accidents, attempts
at terrorism, volcanic eruptions
and very bad weather. All of these
events have tested the firmness of
the commitments that have been
made. However, the French aviation
sector, which seems to be recovering
well from the crisis, has maintained
them and has started to implement
them. For example, the CoRAC,
which in 2010 drew up a demonstration
plan to bring to maturity
the technologies for the aircraft
of the future, or SESAR, the European
programme to develop the future
tools for air traffic control, which should
lead to very direct improvements
in environmental matters. There is also
the AIRE initiative, for assessing more
environmentally friendly transatlantic
flight procedures. Another commitment
is the implementation in 2012
of market mechanisms to limit Co 2
emissions. The conditions under which
such mechanisms can be considered
were specified in an ICAo resolution,
in the autumn of 2010, which includes
an objective to limit international civil
aviation Co 2 emissions with a ceiling
imposed as from 2020. As for the
European Commission, it is federating
the energy of the member states
to promote the green aviation of
the future, particularly with the ACARE
technological platform, towards
which the CoRAC is orientating its work.
Seeing that the French aviation
sector has been able to maintain
its commitments during the crisis,
it will be all the more able to do
so during the recovery.
Pascal Luciani
Directorate general for Civil Aviation
Directorate of Air Transport
Deputy director for sustainable
development
Commitments upheld
Aviation Civile magazine No.358_ June 2011