Airbus selects Nexans as main cable supplier

Airbus has signed a five-year, global supply contract worth around €200 million with Nexans.

Nexans will design, manufacture and supply 130,000 km of specialised cables for the Airbus modern aircraft family from the single-aisle A320 Neo, the A350 series up to the flagship double-deck A380.

The contract covers the supply of the hook-up, power, data and fire-resistant cables that represent some 95% of the total cable requirement on an aircraft. The exact amount of cables on each aircraft varies according to its specification, from 200 to 600 km depending on the aircraft model.

Weight saving is a major priority for Airbus and a crucial element in winning this contract was Nexans’ innovative approach to lighter weight cable designs with no compromise on safety, performance or reliability.

In addition to innovation in the cable designs for Airbus, Nexans has also introduced a number of innovative approaches to its logistics and resource planning to provide the flexibility and fast response to ensure on-time delivery within very short time scales as Airbus ramps up its production from 2015 onwards. This includes careful coordination and planning between Nexans’ aircraft cable manufacturing plants in France, Morocco and North America.