Flying high in the face of strong competition from Asia

As the battle for global airline supremacy intensifies, the Western Cape’s AAT Composites is flying high, having carved an export niche market for itself by designing and manufacturing seat components for first and business class cabins of some of the world’s leading airlines. The overall winner of the 2010 Absa/Cape Chamber of Commerce Exporter of the Year Award, it is the second top achiever recognised from the Helderberg region, following the 2006 win by The Invisible Card Company. Formed by a group of engineers some 25 years ago and at one time turning out components for defence forces around the world – South Africa included – AAT Composites, under CEO Sias van der Westhuizen, has only been operational in its present guise for about six years. Composite product manufactured is either carbon fibre or fibreglass, specifically the seat side arms and cabin dividers, and the company has just begun manufacturing rear walls for toilets to fit the curvature of the aircraft. “The airline industry is growing in leaps and bounds and we want to increase our share of the business all the time,” says Willem Kleinschmidt, account manager for the R100+million-a-year company. AAT is majority-owned by the German Recaro Aircraft Seating company, part of the group which includes Recaro Automotive, manufacturer of seats for sports and racing cars. It is one of four major aircraft seat manufacturers in the world, aside from Zodiac, BE Aerospace and Contour Aircraft Seating, turning out between 7 000 and 10 000 components a year. Kleinschmidt explains airlines only buy the empty shell from the likes of Airbus and Boeing and specify interior design when passing orders onto seat manufacturers, who build and install in first and business class cabins – mostly Airbus A-320, Airbus A-340, Boeing 777 and 767 aircraft. While this forms the major portion of AAT’s business, it also manufactures certain components for economy class seats, including seat pads, arm and backrests, which add R30-odd million to annual revenues. The majority of economy class seat frames are produced in Asia, thus making it difficult to compete in this price-sensitive market. The company’s customers include Lufthansa, Emirates, BA, Swiss, Air France and Air Canada, ironically not SAA, for which the reasons are sound. When the airline approached AAT through Zodiac about four years ago to manufacture components for its Airbus A-340s, it was unable to oblige due to a prior Lufthansa order. Commissioned by Contour Seating, the company has also manufactured some 500 components for the business class section of the yet-to-be-commercially-launched Boeing Dreamliner. The company was also involved in manufacturing carbon fibre bucket seats for a new generation of Zeppelin airships. With a full-time staff complement of about 400, including a good number of engineers, AAT operates a 4 000 sq m main factory in the industrial area of the Strand, near Cape Town, and acquired a second plant in the area last year. Entirely export-driven to Europe and the US, AAT uses GAC Laser in Cape Town for all its air and seafreight requirements. CEO Sias van der Westhuizen makes the point that airline demand for quality is high for these strong, light, carbon fibre products, favoured where larger, more spacious fittings are required.