FILE PHOTO: The Airbus logo is pictured at Airbus headquarters in Blagnac near Toulouse, France, March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

LISBON (Reuters) - Stelia Aerospace, owned by European planemaker Airbus AIR.PA, will open a 40 million euro ($44 million) assembly plant near Porto in Portugal, creating 240 jobs, company and government officials said on Tuesday.

Airbus will use the new factory in Santo Tirso to assemble aircraft structures for export to its facilities in France. The plant is due to start operating before the end of the year and to run at full speed by 2023.

Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the investment will encourage research and development cooperation, boosting the country’s fledgling aviation sector.

Stelia has various units in France, two subsidiaries in Morocco, one in Tunisia and two in North America.