Spanish Company Helps Shape Queretaro's Aerospace Industry

Many in Queretaro consider the arrival of Bombardier as the beginning of the state’s aerospace industry. In fact, a Spanish engine manufacturer predated the Canadian giant by almost a decade. Since entering the state, ITP has found in Queretaro the ideal place for growth and in turn has helped to shape the state’s aerospace sector.
“ITP’s branch in Queretaro is the second-largest after Spain,” says Juan Carlos Corral, Director General of ITP Mexico and President of Queretaro Aerocluster. The company has influenced Queretaro’s development in many ways, including in the introduction of other companies. “ITP brought Safran into the state with a joint venture to repair and overhaul the CFM56 engine. Once this project was left by ITP, Safran decided to continue manufacturing in Queretaro,” says Corral.
ITP is the ninth-largest component and engine manufacturer in the world, according to PwC. In 2016, the company reported a turnover of €780 million for 9.9 percent year-on-year growth. It also reported a 20.5 percent increase in activity in its commercial aviation division. The business outlook appears positive for the Spanish manufacturer, fueled by engine demand for civil and military aircraft. Research and Markets forecasts that this market will enjoy a 5.4 percent compound annual growth rate from 2017 to 2021.
The company started as a joint venture between SENER and Rolls-Royce but now the latter is acquiring SENER’s 53 percent of ITP for €720 million. From its beginnings as an MRO, ITP’s facilities quickly expanded into three different businesses spanning over 150,000m2. At its peak, the MRO division had over 400 employees but that number has shrunk to approximately 100 amid the demise of the JT8D engine, leading ITP to plan its exit strategy from that segment. “We expect to stop JT8D MRO operations in approximately two years,” says Corral. While its MRO operations are not what they used to be, the company’s work in the segment allowed it to “realize that Queretaro has excellent capabilities for aerospace manufacturing, thanks to its universities, training centers, airport, technology centers and other infrastructure.”
ITP’s experience as an MRO also led the company into the design and engineering segments in 2001, establishing ITP I&F (Ingeniería y Manufactura). This company now incorporates over 100 employees and has a number of achievements under its belt. “ITP is the first and only company in Mexico involved in the certification of engines: Pratt and Whitney’s PW814 and PW815,” says Corral. These two turbofan engines are used by the Gulfstream G500 and G600 twin-engine business jets, respectively. The company also manufactures inter-stage seals and other parts for the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Trent900 for Airbus A380 and other engines including the Trent 700, Trent 500 and Trent XWB. “Half of the wide body aircraft fleet flying all over the world includes parts manufactured by ITP, including parts from ITP Mexico,” says Corral. The company’s third division is ITAM (Industria de Tuberías Aeronáuticas de Mexico), which manufactures aircraft pipes and end fittings.
Overall, ITP is growing in Queretaro. “Our headcount increased by 8 percent in 2016,” says Corral. While ITP’s MRO operations (ITR) decreased in revenue, the other two companies have grown and Corral expects this trend to continue. “In Queretaro, our goal is to grow at a double-digit rate.”  
This growth can be credited to investments in the aerospace sector from all players, including academia, government and industry. “The state is heavily committed to the industry’s growth, which is illustrated by the creation of CENTA, the country’s first research center exclusively for the aerospace sector,” Corral says.
Aerospace has also been good to Queretaro. Corral points out that the aerospace industry in the state is not the biggest in Mexico but it “represented 37 percent of the total aerospace exports in 2016.”