Airbus announces cloud deal with Scaleway in digital sovereignty push

Airbus has picked European cloud and AI firm Scaleway as its sovereign cloud provider, and plans to transfer dozens of critical applications to its cloud platform over the next two years.

The contract covers workloads requiring strong governance, resilience, and legal protection, according to the aerospace company.

These include business-critical applications across aircraft design, engineering, manufacturing, and enterprise operations.

In keeping these core systems within a European cloud environment, Airbus aims to strengthen the protection of its intellectual property and industrial data while ensuring the continuity required across its global aerospace operations.

Why Airbus chose Scaleway

The deal follows a competitive tender, with several other suppliers in the ring. They were evaluated on the basis of technical capabilities, including advanced cloud services, interoperability and scalability and AI capabilities.

Airbus also took into consideration factors such as security, resilience, service continuity, and seamless integration within its existing multi-cloud ecosystem.

The firm specifically sought legal and governance safeguards, including European jurisdiction, data protection, and protection against non-European extraterritorial legislation.

“Artificial intelligence is redefining how the world’s most advanced industries design, manufacture and operate,” said Damien Lucas, Scaleway CEO.

“Unlocking its full potential requires digital infrastructure that combines world-class performance with trust, openness and long-term control.”

A “significant milestone” for Airbus

Scaleway will provide a sovereign cloud platform that will be fully integrated into Airbus’ existing technology ecosystem.

The company said this is designed specifically to evolve alongside the company’s engineering and enterprise environments, while keeping operational control and flexibility.

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our broader commitment to European digital sovereignty,” said Catherine Jestin, executive vice president digital, at Airbus.

“By integrating a trusted, high-performance cloud environment that keeps our critical data assets shielded from foreign extraterritorial laws, we are ensuring that our digital infrastructure keeps pace with our aerospace innovation, while maintaining control and resilience of our industrial operations.”

Digital sovereignty in the spotlight

The deal has been a couple of years in the making, and marks a move away from AWS as Airbus, like many organizations, sharpens their focus on digital sovereignty.

Earlier this year, the firm announced plans to deploy Mistral’s AI technology across military programs and certified aviation systems.

Research published last month by Civo found that two-thirds of UK businesses were considering ditching US cloud providers, with three-quarters saying digital sovereignty was a strategic priority.

Hyperscalers have accelerated efforts to comply with growing sovereignty requirements. AWS, for example, launched its own European Sovereign Cloud which it claims provides users with a fully independent setup located entirely within the EU.

Microsoft and Google Cloud have also made similar moves over the last 18 months.

European firms are still concerned about the US Cloud Act, however, which allows the US government to request data held in overseas data centers that are owned by US firms.

Earlier this year, the European Commission announced that it had selected Scaleway, along with Post Telecom, StackIT, Proximus, and Mistral for an €180 million contract to enhance European data sovereignty.

“This project proves there are robust alternatives in Europe, able to answer the highest standards,” said Octave Klaba, CEO of OVHcloud, one of Scaleway’s partners.