Airbus, Safran and Caisse des Depots yesterday announced the creation of a € 75M investment fund aimed at supporting SMEs in the French aeronautics sector.

Airbus, Safran and Caisse des Depots yesterday announced the creation of a € 75M investment fund aimed at supporting SMEs in the French aeronautics sector. La Tribune says this fund, named Aerofund II, clearly has one goal: pushing further the consolidation of the aeronautics industry. In a first stage, Airbus and CDC will invest € 30M each, and Safran the remaining € 15M. Later, new private investors should boost the fund to up to € 100M. Louis Gallois, Thomas Enders and Safran CEO Jean-Paul Herteman all emphasised the three major challenges facing the European aeronautics industry: the weak dollar, ever-skyrocketing oil prices and new environmental imperatives. Martin Malvy, president of the Midi-Pyrenees region, and other local lawmakers claimed this aid “does not answer the problems of the sector” – namely the intensifying relocation of production to low-cost or dollar-based countries. AFP (22/07), Bloomberg (22/07), La Tribune, Les Echos, Le Figaro Economie, L’Agefi, La Correspondance Economique, La Croix, Suddeutsche Zeitung