April 16, 2015 - Bordeaux, France

Pierre Fabre, CEO of Snecma (Safran), Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux, President of the Bordeaux Métropole community and former French Prime Minister, and Alain Rousset, Member of Parliament from the Gironde region and President of the Aquitaine Regional Council, today inaugurated Snecma's new facility in Bordeaux*.

This new facility will consolidate teams from Snecma's Military Engine division and government aircraft maintenance units located in the Bordeaux region. Snecma's aim is to optimize its support services for aircraft engines supplied to French armed forces by setting up a facility in proximity to France's Air Force Command (CFA), the SIMMAD military aircraft maintenance organization and the Bordeaux aviation workshop (AIA).

Snecma supplies the M88 and M53 engines, respectively, for the Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighters, and is a major partner in Europrop International (EPI), the European consortium responsible for the TP400 turboprop powering the Airbus A400M military transport. Snecma also provides support services for its other engines in service, the Larzac (Alpha Jet), Atar (Super-Étendard, Mirage F1) and Tyne turboprop (C-160 Transall, Atlantique 2).

"It is with great pride that we inaugurate this new facility today," said Pierre Fabre, CEO of Snecma. "Through this new location we can work more closely with the government support organizations, delivering services that precisely address their requirements. By enhancing our support services we maximize the dispatch reliability of the engines powering their combat and transport aircraft, at a moment when French forces are heavily involved in a number of operational deployments.

Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppé added: "The fact that Snecma is setting up shop in Bordeaux, right near the AIA, in charge of maintenance for engines on military aircraft such as the A400M, Mirage 2000 and Rafale, clearly illustrates the attractiveness of the Bordeaux aerospace cluster. It also reflects the successful regional and national strategy of specializing in through-life support packages, thanks to the co-location of the CFA and SIMMAD units. As a former Minister of Defense, I have to congratulate Snecma and the AIA for forming this industrial partnership, a top-flight alliance that is an essential component in the effectiveness of France's air force."

Alain Rousset, Member of Parliament from the Gironde region and President of the Aquitaine Regional Council, said: "The aerospace and defense industries are an important part of the Aquitaine region's history. In fact, our region is the country's third largest defense hub, with more than 16,000 employees, and we're also one of the leading maintenance centers in Europe for military aircraft. Our ecosystem features more than one hundred innovative small businesses involved in defense programs, along with research labs working on dual technologies and excellent educational resources built around the Latresne Aerocampus. The Aquitaine Regional Council calls on strong partnerships with French defense procurement agency DGA, plus Turbomeca, Safran's other major engine manufacturer, to coordinate and energize this industrial strike force. I would like to think that our actions contributed to Snecma's decision to set up a facility in our region. With the recently announced order for

36 Rafales from India, a formidable opportunity for Dassault Aviation's Mérignac plant and all other partners, including Snecma, the aerospace and defense industry in the Aquitaine region is really taking off. I would like to take advantage of this inauguration to extend my personal thanks to Snecma, and to Safran in general, for this latest mark of confidence in our region.

* Snecma (Safran), Immeuble Millenium, Hall A, 12 quai des Queyries, 33100 Bordeaux.

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