(Photo: Safran)

MIRABEL, Que. Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, a subsidiary of the French aerospace giant Safran, has opened a new landing gear production facility at its plant in Mirabel, Quebec.

The new plant, which was needed to meet an increased production rate, was inaugurated on April 22nd by the Premier of Quebec, Pauline Marois, and attended by Alain Suaret, the Chairman and CEO of Messier-Bugatti-Dowty.

The inauguration represented the culmination of more than a year of construction, and total investments of $58 million.

I would like to join all the employees at Mirabel to say how proud we are to inaugurate this new unit featuring state-of-the-art technologies and environmental specifications, said Sauret.

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Our new facility will enable us to strengthen our quality objectives and drastically reduce production lead times.

Two new machining lines are being installed, along with major industrial machinery and equipment, including numerical control (NC) machine tools and systems for special processes.

Marois stated that she felt the new facility was a major contribution to the entire aerospace and industrial community of Quebec.

Our aerospace industry comprises world-class companies such as Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, who can count on our skilled labor, a network of recognized universities and research centres, and the support of key organizations to coordinate the work of all stakeholders in this sector, she said.

The expansion project received $7.4 million grant from the Quebec government through the Quebec Ministry of Finance and the Economy, and from Investissement Québec.

The Canadian government, via Canada Economic Development, granted an interest-free C$3 million loan.

Suaret hailed the investments as part of the reason the company chose Mirabel for the expansion.

Messier-Bugati-Dowty supplies structural landing gear parts for the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, as well as for the Airbus A320, A330 and A380.