Aerospace Sector

Support for Investors:
Centre for Strategic Investment
e-mail: invest@paih.gov.pl

Basic facts and figures

Data for companies employing over 49 people.

Strengths of the Polish aerospace industry

• Over one hundred years of tradition
• Well-developed network of suppliers
• World-renowned product quality
• Highly qualified workforce
• Competitive production and labour costs
• Continuous development of educational and training activities
• Increasing tendency for companies to conduct research and development
• The existence of aviation clusters (Podkarpacie, Śląsk)
• Establishment of the Polish Space Agency in 2014.
  
  

Over one hundred years of tradition

Poland boasts a 100-year history of aviation, and over 80 years of aerospace industry tradition. Strong scientific, academic and engineering environments played a key role in the development of this sector. After the period of transformation in Poland, the expansion of international cooperation and direct foreign investments made the further development of the sector possible. Currently, the Polish aerospace industry has a rich export offer of advanced aviation products. Almost every passenger aircraft in the world features at least one component that has been produced in our country.

Well-developed network of suppliers

A dominant role in the Polish aviation sector is played by the world's largest companies from the industry. In the last dozen or so years, the five largest manufacturers of aircraft engines have located their production plants in Poland producing engines or their components. Most of them are located in southeastern Poland and belong to the so-called “Aviation Valley”. In Świdnik and Mielec, in the privatized and modernized plants with a long tradition, helicopters are produced by international powerhouses such as Sikorsky and AugustaWestland. The plant in Mielec is at the same time the largest production plant of the Lockheed Martin group outside the US. Poland is also the third largest production centre of UTC Aerospace Systems in the world.

However, the aviation industry in Poland is not focused solely on production. Many companies have also located their research and development centers here. One example is the Engineering Design Center of GE Aircraft Engines, which employs over 1,800 highly qualified engineers.

The latest two major investments of the aviation sector are the MROs of Lufhansa Technik consortia with MTU Aeroengines (EME Aero) and GE Aviation (Xeos). These aircraft engine service centers are another branch of the aviation industry in Poland and show the appreciation of the quality of highly qualified technical staff by the global leaders in this industry.

In total, more than 200 companies in the aviation sector and the space industry are located in Poland, with an annual sales value of up to 8.5 billion PLN and creating over 18,000 jobs. Most of them are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and companies with foreign capital and few enterprises with a minority share of the State Treasury. About 80% of the plants are located in the southeastern part of our country in one of the three existing clusters.

World-renowned product quality

The operating plants specialize in the production of aircraft (agricultural, training, and commercial), helicopters, gliders and components (aluminum, composites, GRFP) and accessories. The value of aviation production exports reached EUR 1 billion in 2016. The main export markets are: USA, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and France.

Polish export hits

High quality workforce

The development of the aviation sector would not be possible without qualified employees - every year over 40,000 engineers graduate from Polish technical universities  (including 3,250 graduates of automation and robotics, 6,000 graduates in mechanics and mechanical engineering, and 530 graduates in aerospace). A well-developed system of university education as well as vocational education and rich traditions are factors affecting the quality of the personnel of the aviation sector. In addition, thanks to initiatives such as AREOnet (www.areonet.pl), the cooperation between industry, local governments and the authorities of schools and universities has been improved in order to better prepare staff by developing a training program and adjusting the school profile to the needs of the labour market.

Selected universities and research centres related to the aeronautical sector:

• The Warsaw Univeristy of Technology,
• The Rzeszow Univeristy of Technology,
• The Institute of Aviation,
• The Silesian Science and Technology Centre of Aviation Industry,
• The Military Univeristy of Technology,
• The Wroclaw Univeristy of Technology,
• The Lublin Univeristy of Technology,
• The Lodz Univeristy of Technology,
• The Silesian Univeristy of Technology.
  
  

Competitive production and labour costs

The production potential of enterprises lies mainly in the offered product quality (thanks to the knowledge of materials processing, foundry, mechanics and electronics) and competitive labour costs. The existing network of manufacturing and service companies in Poland supported by R&D centres offers potential for cooperation and the possibility of commissioning orders for the production of spare parts and finished products for the aviation sector.

Increasing tendency of companies to conduct research and development

The aviation sector was one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The European Funds however may help aviation industry recuperate . As part of the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate and Environment (FEnIKS) program, investments in the airports of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) are being planned. Due to the availability of funds from the FEnIKS program, the safety and security of air traffic as well as the accessibility to airports will be increased through the implementation of road and rail projects. Entrepreneurs from the aviation industry who fit in with national and regional smart specializations will be able to obtain support for projects in the field of innovation, R&D or increasing competitiveness. As it had done in previous years, the new Partnership Agreement provides for the transfer of 60% of funds from the cohesion policy under the programs implemented at the national level. The perspective for 2021-2027 has a planned budget of EUR 25 billion.

At the initiative of aviation sector companies, the National Centre for Research and Development launched a dedicated sector-based INNOLOT support program - innovative aviation. The program's budget of PLN 400 million allows companies to obtain co-financing of research, development works and transfer of knowledge to the aviation industry.

The advanced level of processes used in the Polish aviation sector is well illustrated by participation in numerous international projects, such as the development of innovative engines including PurePower PW1000G (GTF), GEnx, LEAP. In the future, Polish participation in such projects will also increase thanks to the available subsidies.

Air and space clusters

Further development prospects

Polish companies from the aviation sector have undergone a huge transformation in recent years. From communist factories producing products of the old generations, through simple processes brought by international corporations, to the most modern automated production lines along with more and more numerous research and development centres developing state-of-the-art technologies.

The next years will surely bring a technological leap among Polish companies and an increase in the presence of foreign companies in Poland. Already today, partially due to the help of EU funds, technologies of printing components in 3D using metals, implementation of new solutions in engines and aircraft transmissions or created software for engine control are being developed in Poland.

It is worth mentioning that Poland also has a long tradition in the space sector and participates in many international scientific and technological projects. In November 2012, Poland became the twentieth full-fledged member of the European Space Agency with an annual budget of EUR 5.75 billion. This membership allows Polish companies and scientists to participate fully in many European space programs and missions. In addition to the membership in ESA, in 2014, the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) was established. POLSA is to fulfil governmental tasks in the field of research and development of new space technologies.

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