Airbus is expanding its engineering presence in Central Europe with the launch of a new commercial aircraft engineering centre in Kraków, Poland, reinforcing the company’s long-term commitment to innovation, engineering excellence and industrial growth across the region.
The announcement was made by Johan Pelissier, President of Region Europe and Head of Commercial Europe for Commercial Aircraft at Airbus, in a LinkedIn post, where he described the new facility as a strategic milestone in Airbus’ European expansion plans.
Scheduled to open in October 2026, the Kraków engineering centre will focus on advanced propulsion-related activities, supporting the development of next-generation commercial aircraft. The facility will undertake a wide range of engineering functions, including structural design, system integration and aircraft certification.
According to Pelissier, the new centre will become Airbus’ only commercial aircraft engineering facility of its kind in Europe outside the company’s home countries, highlighting the strategic importance of Poland within Airbus’ growing European industrial network.
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Airbus said the new engineering hub will complement its existing operations in Warsaw, Łódź and Gdańsk, where more than 1,000 employees are already supporting the company’s aerospace programmes. By establishing operations in Kraków, Airbus aims to deepen collaboration with Poland’s leading technical universities while strengthening access to engineering talent across Central and Eastern Europe.
The investment forms part of Airbus’ broader expansion strategy in Poland, where the company expects to grow its workforce to around 1,500 employees by 2030. Airbus also projects its direct industrial spending in the country to reach US$1 billion, further reinforcing Poland’s position as a key strategic partner within the company’s European supply chain.
Beyond commercial aviation, Pelissier highlighted Airbus’ continued investment across its defence and space portfolio in Poland. This includes ongoing collaboration on the A400M military transport aircraft and A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) programmes, with Airbus already manufacturing components for both platforms at its Polish facilities while exploring opportunities for further industrial expansion.
The company also reaffirmed its commitment to the H145M military helicopter programme, supported through cooperation with Poland’s defence industry, including PGZ for weapons and mission systems integration, and WZL1 for maintenance and support activities.
On the commercial aviation front, Airbus is preparing for the introduction of the Airbus A220 into LOT Polish Airlines’ fleet in 2027, a programme expected to further strengthen the company’s presence in the Polish aviation market.
Commenting on the announcement, Pelissier said the new engineering centre reflects Airbus’ confidence in Poland’s growing aerospace ecosystem. “By establishing this centre, we are deepening our collaboration with Poland’s world-class technical universities to tap into the brilliant talent across Central and Eastern Europe,” he said in his LinkedIn post.
He added that the investment marks “a major strategic acceleration for Airbus in Poland,” positioning the country as an increasingly important pillar of Airbus’ engineering and industrial capabilities in Europe.
With the addition of the Kraków engineering centre, Airbus continues to expand its engineering capacity closer to key talent pools while strengthening its regional industrial ecosystem, an approach that is expected to support future aircraft development programmes, certification activities and long-term aftermarket engineering capabilities across Europe.
