COMMERCIAL AEROSPACE WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2024 Expanded suite of solutions and capabilities that provide new engines of growth Introduced new products that help to seed the future and further establish us as an innovative OEM Strengthened partnerships with industry players to support growing maintenance demand OPERATING REVIEW AND OUTLOOK Nacelle and Composite Manufacturing Production volume of our largest nacelle programme continued to grow in line with increased production of the A320neo by Airbus. Aftermarket demand for nacelle spare parts remained on a healthy growth trajectory under continuous global fleet expansion and utilisation. We continued to see healthy levels of orders in our other nacelle product lines for aircraft such as the Bombardier Global 7500, while our production volume for the COMAC C919 rose steadily to meet COMAC’s delivery schedule. Increased aircraft production rates by Airbus continued to benefit the composite manufacturing activities of our JV in Germany, Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), the sole supplier of composite floor panels used in Airbus’ commercial aircraft. As Airbus’ appointed manufacturer for cabin solutions, EFW increased its support for Airbus by setting up a new production line for the Airspace L Bins, a retrofit overhead bin for narrowbody Airbus aircraft. The airline industry achieved full recovery in total passenger traffic, surpassing pre-pandemic passenger levels in February 20241. Although challenges such as rising manpower costs, parts shortages and geopolitical tensions persisted, the aviation sector remained resilient and adapted to enable air traffic growth. Under these conditions, our Commercial Aerospace business turned in a favourable performance. Growth was broad-based across all key business segments including the OEM and MRO businesses, while we continued to invest in solutions and initiatives to better navigate challenges, enhance operational efficiency and capture new opportunities. AEROSTRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS Our manufacturing business continued to ramp up according to aircraft OEMs’ production rates, while we steadily raised our freighter conversion production to meet customers’ demands. We also made headway in bringing new solutions such as our AirFish Wing-in-Ground (WIG) craft to market. 1 Source: IATA’s February 2024 Air Passenger Market Analysis 26 ST ENGINEERING | ANNUAL REPORT 2024
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