Aerospace Sector

Investor support:
Centre for Strategic Investments
☎ +48 22 334 98 75
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
  
  
• High quality workforce
  
  
• Competitive production and labour costs
  
  
• Continuous development of educational and training activities
  
  
• Increasing tendency of 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

The 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 like Sikorsky and AugustaWestland. The plant in Mielec is at the same time the largest production plant of the Lockheed Martin group outside the USA. 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 140 companies in the aviation sector and the space industry are located in Poland, with an annual sales value of up to 6.8 billion PLN and creating over 15,000 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, among others 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 development of the aviation industry is one of the examples of activities carried out by Poland to build a technologically advanced economy. By 2020, companies will use EU funds (EUR 8.61 billion) to improve their innovation and competitiveness. This will significantly increase the contribution of private capital to research and development, cooperation with research centers, participation in international projects, human potential and cluster development. 

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

Aviation Valley - is located in southeastern Poland, known for its developed aerospace industry and pilot training centres. The region is characterized by the largest concentration of aviation industry companies in Poland, research centres and developed educational and training facilities. Currently, the Association consists of 158 entities from the region.

Silesian cluster - The history of cooperation of companies from the aviation industry in Silesia dates back to the 80s of the last century. The leader of the Silesian Aviation Cluster - the Federation of Aviation Companies - was established in a natural way, as a result of real and concrete cooperation of 15 private companies, which as a result of the system transformation were founded in the region of Bielsko-Biała. Currently, the cluster includes several dozen entities, including universities and business environment institutions. 

Wielkopolska Aerospace Cluster - It consists of six companies producing subassemblies for the aviation industry: Pratt & Whitney Kalisz, Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego "PZL Kalisz", Vac Aero Kalisz, Meyer Tool Poland, Hamilton Sundstrand Kalisz and Teknequip Kalisz. These companies employ a total of nearly 2,500 people.

Lower Silesian Air Cluster - was established under the patronage of the Minister of Economy in 2014 in connection with the growing role of the aviation sector in south-western Poland, gathering in their ranks companies and institutions willing to cooperate for the development of the aviation industry in the region.

Klaster Lubelski 

The National Center of Space and Satellite Engineering

Further development prospects

Useful links