Moving CFRP technology and 3D printing of titanium components centre stage at AIRTEC in Munich

Premium AEROTEC is one of the world's leading tier 1 suppliers of commercial and military aircraft structures and is a partner in the major European and international aerospace programmes. The company is represented by its products in all commercial Airbus programmes. In addition, Premium AEROTEC is making an important contribution to the Boeing B787 "Dreamliner" and current military programmes such as Eurofighter and A400M.

Using a fuselage shell segment for the A350 XWB, Premium AEROTEC will be demonstrating its leading position in the area of CFRP technology (carbon fibre composite material). The company is the world's largest supplier for the A350 XWB and has diverse skills in the use of CFRP in aircraft construction. For the A350 XWB, among others, Premium AEROTEC is responsible for the entire front fuselage section (sections 13/14), the side shells of the rear fuselage (sections 16/18) as well as the floor structure and CFRP pressure bulkhead. Over the course of 2015, the company has started to deliver its components for the long version of the A350-1000.The side shells manufactured at Premium AEROTEC in Augsburg are 17 metres long and around 5.5 metres wide. They are thus the largest CFRP aircraft components that are produced in Europe.

The door frames for the A350-1000 are a major innovation. For the first time in a commercial Airbus aircraft, a door frame structure made of CFRP was used - designed and produced by Premium AEROTEC. Compared to the conventional door and gate frames made of metal, this highly complex structure not only saves costs, but also weight. The CFRP portion of the door frame amounts to 85 percent, the remaining 15 percent consists of titanium and aluminium.

Premium AEROTEC is about to start series production for the 3D printing of titanium aircraft components. The company will be demonstrating different components which are manufactured via ALM (Additive Layer Manufacturing).The first serial component will be a system component for the A400M.This involves a double-walled pipe elbow, which will no longer be welded in future as several individual components, but will be "printed" in a single step.This technology offers further potential for the future, for example, with a view to a bionic-looking surface geometry or integral components which, on the one hand, would reduce the weight and, on the other hand, the assembly time.


Premium AEROTEC generated revenues of around 1.9 billion euros in 2014. The company’s core business lies in the development and production of metal and carbon fibre composite aircraft structures. The company has manufacturing sites in Augsburg, Bremen, Nordenham and Varel in Germany, as well as in Braşov in Romania.