Daher to Transfer Airbus Parts Production from Tarbes to Morocco

Casablanca — French aerospace group Daher is preparing to transfer part of the production and assembly work currently carried out at its Tarbes plant in southwestern France to Morocco, as part of a broader effort to improve the performance of its industrial division.

The company, which generated €1.9 billion in revenue in 2025 and employs more than 14,500 people, plans to relocate a minority share of the industrial workload from Tarbes under an internal restructuring program known as “Edge”.

The plan targets Daher Industrie, one of the group’s six business entities and the division that has weighed on its financial results. The unit posted losses of several tens of millions of euros in 2025 despite strong demand from aircraft manufacturers.

Tarbes is home to around 1,800 employees across Daher activities. About half of the site’s activity is linked to the production of TBM business aircraft through Daher Aircraft. The remainder is divided between composite aerostructures and metallic aerospace parts produced by Daher Industrie.

One project within the Edge plan, called “Make to Buy,” will transfer the production of around 1,000 low-complexity part references to subcontractors in low-cost countries, particularly Morocco. Preparatory work is underway, with implementation scheduled to begin in September 2026 and continue through the end of 2027.

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A second project, known as “Make to Make,” involves transferring the assembly of composite and metallic section coverings used on Airbus A300, A320, A330 and A350 aircraft to one of Daher’s sites in Tangier. That process is already underway and is also expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

According to sources cited by L’Usine Nouvelle, the reduction in workload at Tarbes will represent several tens of thousands of working hours. The company expects the investment to pay for itself within three years, taking into account logistics costs associated with importing parts from Morocco as well as labor costs that are estimated to be three times lower than in France.

No layoffs are planned. Around 60 employees affected by the assembly transfer will be reassigned internally. About 40 temporary workers linked to the outsourced production activities will not be retained in their current positions, while one employee is expected to be reassigned elsewhere within the company.

The company is also seeking to free up capacity at Tarbes to pursue opportunities in the defense sector. Daher has been exploring military contracts for several years and has hosted visits from defense companies including MBDA. At the same time, it is preparing for Airbus’ future program to replace the A320, where it hopes to secure new industrial contracts.

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