Airbus official says may build research center in S. Korea to enhance partnership

A senior official at Airbus SE, Europe's aerospace giant, said Monday that the company may build a research and development (R&D) center in South Korea as it seeks to enhance partnerships with local firms, Yonhap reports. 

"Airbus' goal is to become a partner of choice for the development of local solutions in the helicopters, defense and space sectors, as well as in the supply chain," Loic Porcheron, Airbus' chief representative for South Korea, told reporters in Seoul.

Porcheron made the remarks as Airbus participated into the biennial Seoul International Aerospace and Defense exhibition set to kick off on Tuesday at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul.

Porcheron said Airbus was "looking to expand" the company's industrial footprint in South Korea through exploring new partnerships with local companies in areas of "co-development of next generation helicopters and joint space development."

To this end, Porcheron said Airbus was "studying the possibility of setting up a R&D center" in South Korea to help local industries advance their aerospace technological competitiveness and ensure a "robust talent pipeline to support the (local) industry's continued growth."

Porcheron said the company was currently in the conceptualization stage regarding the establishment of the R&D center through consultations with local space and aerospace companies in South Korea, without going into further details.

Airbus first entered the South Korean market in 1974, when Korean Air Co., the country's flag carrier, ordered the original A300B4 aircraft for its operations. Currently about 150 commercial aircraft, 60 civil and military helicopters and 30 military transport aircraft produced by Airbus are in use in South Korea.

The company also operates a helicopter production line at an aircraft manufacturing facility owned by Korea Aerospace Industries Co. in Sacheon, 440 kilometers south of Seoul.