NEWTON, Kan., June 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Park Aerospace Corp. announced its commitment to fully support Airbus’s stated A320neo Aircraft Family production rates of 65 Aircraft per month by the middle of CY2023 and 75 Aircraft per month in CY2025. The A320neo Aircraft Family includes the A319neo, the A320neo, the A321neo, the A321LR and the A321XLR Aircraft. (Airbus recently conducted the first test flight of the A321XLR, and Airbus expects the A321XLR to enter into service in early 2024. All other members of the A320neo Aircraft Family are already in production and service.)
Park is the sole source supplier of composite materials and lightning strike protection materials used to produce the engine transcowl and acoustic structures and other actuated and static thrust reverser components used on all A320neo Family Aircraft equipped with CFM LEAP-1A engines.
Brian Shore, Park’s Chairman and CEO, said, “We felt it is important to publicly indicate our commitment to Airbus’s A320neo Aircraft program ramp-up, since a number of companies in the A320neo program supply chain have expressed skepticism about the program ramp-up and have been noncommittal about fully supporting it. At Park, we feel privileged and honored to be associated with the A320neo Aircraft program, and we are pleased to commit to fully supporting Airbus on their A320neo Aircraft program. Our recently completed $20 million facility expansion was designed to provide redundancy and additional manufacturing capacity to fully support Airbus’s A320neo Aircraft program and certain other key aircraft programs. The expansion will enable us to meet our commitment to fully support Airbus’s A320neo Aircraft program and the aggressive ramp rates Airbus is planning for the program.”
Park Aerospace Corp. develops and manufactures solution and hot-melt advanced composite materials used to produce composite structures for the global aerospace markets. Park’s advanced composite materials include film adhesives (undergoing qualification) and lightning strike materials. Park offers an array of composite materials specifically designed for hand lay-up or automated fiber placement (AFP) manufacturing applications. Park’s advanced composite materials are used to produce primary and secondary structures for jet engines, large and regional transport aircraft, military aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs commonly referred to as “drones”), business jets, general aviation aircraft and rotary wing aircraft. Park also offers specialty ablative materials for rocket motors and nozzles and specially designed materials for radome applications. As a complement to Park’s advanced composite materials offering, Park designs and fabricates composite parts, structures and assemblies and low volume tooling for the aerospace industry. Target markets for Park’s composite parts and structures (which include Park’s proprietary composite SigmaStrut™ and AlphaStrut™ product lines) are, among others, prototype and development aircraft, special mission aircraft, spares for legacy military and civilian aircraft and exotic spacecraft. Park’s objective is to do what others are either unwilling or unable to do. When nobody else wants to do it because it is too difficult, too small or too annoying, sign us up.
Additional corporation information is available on the Company’s web site at www.parkaerospace.com.
Contact: Donna D’Amico-Annitto
486 North Oliver Road, Bldg. Z
Newton, Kansas 67114
(316) 283-6500
