Councillor Mikel Jauregi visits ITP Aero, a Basque company that is a global leader in the manufacture of more efficient and sustainable aero engines

The company, based on the Zamudio/Derio Campus of the Basque Technology Park, has made a major commitment to the decarbonisation of air transport with an investment of 600 million in R&D&I over the last decade, and is leading projects to lay the foundations for hybrid-electric and hydrogen-based propulsion.

The Basque Government has a 6% stake in ITP Aero, through the FINKATUZ fund, with the aim of guaranteeing the roots of a strategic company for the Basque Country and a driving force in the Basque economy.

Mikel Jauregi, Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, visited the ITP Aero headquarters in Zamudio, located in the Euskadi Technology Park. There he was welcomed by the CEO, Carlos Alzola, and the Executive Director, Erlantz Cristobal, with whom he toured the company’s facilities together with the Deputy Regional Minister for Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Jaione Ganzarain.

During the visit, they toured the production facilities, including the exhibition area dedicated to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine, for which ITP Aero is responsible for the design and production of the low-pressure turbines.

ITP Aero, founded in 1989, is a leading global aircraft engine and component manufacturer and a trusted partner of leading engine manufacturers, with a major drive to become more efficient and sustainable. With 35 years of experience in its sector, it is working towards the decarbonisation of air transport by developing emission-free flights, for which it is leading consortia of companies, technology centres and universities to develop technologies that will lay the foundations for hybrid-electric and hydrogen-based propulsion.

The Basque Government currently has a 6% stake in the share capital of ITP Aero, through the FINKATUZ fund, with the aim of guaranteeing the roots of a strategic company for the Basque Country and a driving force for its economy. Today, this company has 5,500 workers around the world and 14 production centres in 6 different countries. In the last 10 years, the company has invested more than 600 million euros in R&D&I.

Councillor Mikel Jauregi pointed out that ‘every two minutes an aeroplane takes off anywhere in the world that is powered by ITP Aero. We are talking about a strategic company for the Basque Country, which belongs to a highly important industrial sector, the aeronautical-aerospace sector. Its commitment to innovation is particularly noteworthy, with the development of 100% made in Euskadi technology that it applies all over the world. When we advocate more and better industry, we are referring to companies such as ITP Aero, which have invested no less than 600 million euros in R&D&I over the last decade’.

‘The Basque Government has a 6% stake in the share capital of ITP Aero. Our intention is not only to guarantee its roots, we also want to be the company’s travelling companions in the challenges and opportunities it faces in the future, such as technological investments to move towards emission-free air transport. We are clear that in the face of climate change our path is less emissions, to advance in the decarbonisation of industry and transport, and in this sense the technological development that companies like ITP Aero are leading is vital’, added Mikel Jauregi.