Mexico has established itself as a global leader in the aerospace industry thanks in part to being one of the few countries with a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).More than 250 companies operate in the aerospace industry in the country, most of them have NADCAP and AS9100 certifications.

Of these companies:

• 79% are manufacturing
• 11% maintenance and repair
• 10% research and development

In Baja California, the aerospace industry growth has more than 40 years of activity this is thanks to its geographic location and the high standards of quality and fulfillment of the already established companies. It has more than 65 businesses in the sector and just over 16,000 employees, which together have recorded more than 1,148 million dollars annually in exports.

Among this growth, Tijuana has become the city with the largest number of aerospace companies in Mexico. One of them is Zodiac Aerospace, located in Parque Industrial Pacifico, which has had considerable growth in the city of Tijuana arriving in the town in 1991 with around 30 employees and today has around 1, 400 employees in 4 plants and its developing growth plans for the next two years

In Tijuana, they manufacture components for airplane interiors like door panels, ceilings, walls among others that are acquired by companies like Boeing from the USA or Airbus from Europe.

One of the businesses to be integrated into the cluster of industries located in Tijuana is ICON Aircraft. A private corporation of design and production of American airplanes which will begin with the production of ICON A5, a light sport amphibious plane, this will start during the first months of 2017 In the city of Tijuana with an investment of more than 150 MDD which will generate more than a thousand high impact jobs helping the growth of manufacturing industry in Mexico.

ICON Aircraft located in Vacaville, California, where all manufacturing, engineering, design, training, sales and service functions are consolidated. It also has an office in Los Angeles, California where the company was founded. Kirk Hawkins, executive director of ICON Aircraft, mentions that they chose Tijuana because of its proximity to its corporate headquarters and its highly qualified workforce

He said that the plant is currently under construction in the eastern part of the city of Tijuana, it is expected that the construction will be completed at the beginning of next year to meet the demand of more than 1,800 units.

The growth of the Mexican aerospace industry is just one of many commercial areas in which Mexico is attracting international manufacturing. Mexico’s expansion in the export industry continues thanks to the free trade agreements it has signed with more than 44 countries. Some companies that recently made the transfer to Mexico are TT Electronics, a company dedicated to the supply of electric car parts and sensors for BMW and Volkswagen