Safran Landing Systems, the French aerospace group's landing gear division, will invest €280 million in a new production facility near Casablanca. The plant will supply nose and main landing gear for the Airbus A320 family, the world's most-ordered single-aisle aircraft.
What's happening
Safran signed the deal at the Midparc Free Zone, the aerospace industrial park adjacent to Mohammed V International Airport. The facility will span 30,000 square meters, employ 500 people at full capacity, and begin production in 2029. It will run on 100% decarbonized energy, aligning with Safran's group-wide emissions targets.
The A320 family accounts for roughly 60% of global single-aisle deliveries. Airbus delivered 766 A320neo-family aircraft in 2025 and plans to reach rate 75 (75 aircraft per month) by 2027. Safran's Morocco plant secures a piece of that production ramp.
Why it matters
Morocco's aerospace sector has been on a steady climb for a decade, but this deal marks a shift in what it produces.
Moving up the value chain. Until recently, Morocco's aerospace presence was concentrated in wiring harnesses, cabin interiors, and component machining. Landing gear is a high-precision, safety-critical system. Building it in Morocco means the country is graduating from assembly work to structural aviation manufacturing.
The numbers back the trajectory. Morocco's aerospace industry now counts over 150 companies employing 25,000 people. Aerospace exports reached MAD 29 billion ($3 billion) in 2025, according to the GIMAS industry association. The sector has grown at roughly 15% annually since 2015.
Midparc's gravity is pulling in more investment. The free zone already hosts Boeing, Bombardier, Hexcel, and Collins Aerospace. Safran's landing gear plant is the largest single investment in the zone's history and signals that Morocco's aerospace cluster has reached the scale where suppliers attract more suppliers.
How Morocco compares
Morocco is now the largest aerospace exporter in Africa and the second-largest in the MENA region after Turkey. Among developing countries building aerospace capacity, it sits alongside Malaysia and Mexico, both of which followed a similar playbook: attract Tier 1 suppliers with tax incentives and trained labor, then move into more complex manufacturing as the cluster matures.
Tunisia, Morocco's closest competitor for French aerospace contracts, has a more established precision engineering base but lacks the scale of Midparc. The gap is widening.
What this means for investors
Safran's commitment is a signal that Morocco's infrastructure, labor pipeline, and regulatory environment have passed the test for high-stakes manufacturing. The 2029 production start gives Morocco three years to train specialized technicians, a timeline GIMAS says is feasible given the existing ISMALA aerospace training institute's capacity.
The risk worth watching: Morocco's aerospace cluster depends heavily on Airbus and its supply chain. A slowdown in A320 deliveries or a shift in Airbus's sourcing strategy would ripple through the ecosystem.
Sources: Aviation Maintenance Magazine (February 2026); Reuters (February 2026); GIMAS 2025 annual report; Safran corporate communications (February 2026)
