Leading the Leading and Trailing Edge Sector

Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Gosselies, Belgium, Sonaca Group is an aerospace firm specializing in the design and manufacture of articulating wing substructures—slats and flaps, primarily—for civil and military aircraft.

Sonaca announced on 19 June 2023 that it had entered into three discrete contracts with Airbus by which the Belgian marque will supply flaps for the consortium’s A321 family of narrow-body aircraft while continuing to supply slats (droops to commonwealth readers) to Airbus’s A320 and A350 aircraft programs.

The deals occasion a major milestone in Sonaca Group’s diversification strategy and mark the largest, richest contracts in the company’s history.

To meet its considerable contractual obligations to Airbus, Sonaca will mobilize the entirety of its Belgian, Brazilian, and Romanian production facilities. Moreover, the new initiative will require the installation of new machine tools essential to the manufacture of larger parts, and involve no fewer than 160 individuals across Sonaca’s design and manufacturing teams.

Investments of over €40-million ($52.87-million) are planned to support the new production efforts, including the construction of a new production building, which will house surface treatment, drawing, and parts routing divisions.

Sonaca Group CEO Yves Delatte stated: "This new partnership marks an important milestone in our relationship with Airbus. We've been partners for almost forty-years, and I'm delighted to see our collaboration reaching new heights for the decade to come.”

Notwithstanding a history stretching back to 25 June 1920, Sonaca’s true rise to international aerospace significance got underway when the company opened a Brazilian subsidiary near Embraer’s São José dos Campos production facilities in the early 2000s. Dubbed Sobraer, the subsidiary manufactures fuselage components. Since 2004, Sonaca has launched two additional Brazilian subsidiaries—Pesola and Sopecaero—both of which produce small aircraft parts. Sonaca’s Brazilian subsidiaries are currently being merged into a single entity somewhat unimaginatively christened Sonaca Brasil.

In 2007, Montreal’s municipal government allotted Sonaca's Canadian subsidiary $17-million to expand its Montreal aircraft wing manufacturing and assembly plant.

Sonaca acquired Chinese and Romanian subsidiaries in 2010 and 2016 respectively. The latter bears the attention-fetching moniker Sonaca Transylvania.

In 2017, Sonaca acquired LMI Aerospace for €405.5-million. By dint of the expertise and efforts of more than 2,800 workers in the United States, Mexico, and Sri Lanka, LMI Aerospace produces structural assemblies and components for the commercial, regional, business, and defense aerospace markets. The subsidiary continues to operate under the LMI name and maintains its headquarters in Missouri.

FMI: www.sonaca.com