Marco Bonilla Mendoza, the newly re-elected mayor of Chihuahua, the capital of Mexico's largest state, aims to have fully assembled aircraft from U.S. manufacturers Bell and Cessna taking off from Chihuahua within the next three years.
Infrastructure is currently being prepared, as thousands of aircraft parts manufactured in the city, located in northern Mexico, are assembled to complete 70% of several aircraft, which are then sent abroad for final assembly.
"The aerospace industry in the city of Chihuahua is the most developed in the country. Today, 100% of the parts needed to make an airplane are made here. The plane is already partially assembled in Chihuahua and then sent to Wichita, Kansas (USA), where the turbines are installed, tests are conducted, and it's ready to go," Bonilla said in an interview with EFE.
Additionally, Bonilla mentioned that Bell helicopters leave the capital with more than 80% of their assembly complete. To achieve 100%, new factories and special infrastructure are needed, which he emphasized, "is already in progress."
"A new aerospace park is being built in Chihuahua, five minutes from the airport. The goal is to develop a more specialized industry in this aeropark, and this will happen in the next three years," he noted. Solid industry
Currently, Mexico has eight aerospace manufacturing companies, five of which are located in Chihuahua: Textron Aviation, Bell, Honeywell, EZ AIR-Embraer, Bombardier, and Kaman Aerospace, along with more than 45 certified suppliers, such as Safran Aerosystem and Safran Electrical & Power, among many others.
"These are the two strategic objectives we are setting because our vision as a government is not only to attract industry but also to attract high-value jobs," Bonilla explained.
The growth of the aerospace industry in the city of Chihuahua has been achieved through the collaboration of sectors that make up the aerospace cluster, where schools generate the right talent, the government provides the necessary conditions, and the private sector makes the investment.
This approach has positioned Chihuahua as one of the ten most competitive cities in the country, according to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
All these conditions, Bonilla added, enable the city to be Mexico's aerospace hub and will allow aircraft made entirely in the country to take flight in the coming years.
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