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Thales inaugurates its new facility and celebrates 10 years of aerospace activities in Canada

Feb. 12, 2008, Montreal – Thales has announced the opening of its new buildings in Montreal by the Honourable Jim Prentice, minister of industry. To meet the continuing growth of its aerospace capabilities, both within the region and on a worldwide basis, Thales has moved to a new, bigger and more efficient location of 50,000 square feet which will host around 145 employees and state of the art test bench facilities. The inauguration coincides with the ten-year anniversary of Thales’ aerospace activities in Canada.

Thales has been a significant contributor to commercial aerospace markets in Canada and
offshore since 1998. By creating a worldwide centre of excellence for flight controls in Montreal, Thales has been able to develop the most competitive and advanced solutions in the aerospace domain. The company is a world leader in integrated systems for cockpit, cabin and flight controls for regional and business aircraft around the world. The new buildings will also house Thales’ aftersales support and maintenance team dedicated to business jet operators and regional aircraft and airlines. François Quentin, Thales Senior Vice President in charge of aerospace activities said, “Thales has a long and prestigious history as a key partner to Canada’s aerospace and defence establishments. Its roots go back to the early 1980’s, when Thales first established a domestic presence in Canada. Thales’ Canadian aerospace activities play a key role as the central hub for the regional and business aircraft market and represent a worldwide centre of excellence for flight control systems”.

With over 1,300 employees and revenues exceeding $CDN 350 million in 2007, Thales continues to expand its presence in Canada and invest locally and nationally in both technology and people. From Montreal, Thales serves the regional and business aircraft worldwide with customers ranging from Bombardier, Embraer, Sukhoi, Gulfstream and Dassault Falcon with key avionics systems, and is currently equipping Air Canada’s entire fleet with its high performance in-flight entertainment systems.