Airbus chiefs back Belfast jet but drop superjumbo
UNIONS have expressed “bitter disappointment” at news that Airbus is to cease production of its superjumbo A380 aircraft.
Unite, which represents workers at Airbus sites in Broughton, north Wales, and Filton, near Bristol, and those in supply chain companies such as GKN, said it would be seeking assurances on jobs and future work.
It is understood no Northern Ireland aerospace firms are in the supply chain for the A380.
Airbus said it made the “painful” decision to drop the A380 after struggling to sell the world’s largest passenger jet and Emirates’ decision to cut its A380 order book by a quarter.
Due to the reduction and a lack of orders from other airlines, Airbus said it would end deliveries of the record-breaking plane in 2021, 14 years after it first entered commercial service.
Emirates is yet to take delivery of 14 of the double-decker aircraft, the wings, engines and landing gear of which are made in the UK.
Airbus said it would “start discussions with its social partners in the next few weeks regarding the 3,000 to 3,500 positions potentially impacted over the next three years”.
Rhys McCarthy, Unite national officer for aerospace, said: “This is a sad day for Airbus’s dedicated UK workforce, who have made the iconic A380’s wings since it entered service in 2007.
“It is a much-loved aircraft manufactured by a highly skilled workforce.
“Unite will be seeking urgent assurances from Airbus that there will be no job losses because of the decision to end production of the A380.”
Airbus chief executive Tom
Enders said the A380 was “an outstanding engineering and industrial achievement”.
“Keep in mind that A380s will still roam the skies for many years to come, and Airbus will of course continue to fully support the A380 operators,” Mr Enders added.
However, there was a boost for the Belfast workforce of aerospace manufacturer Bombardier at the Airbus press conference yesterday to announce full-year results for 2018.
As they discussed the results, company’s executives posed in front of a model A220-300 plane, the wings of which are made in Belfast by Bombardier staff.
In its result statement, Airbus said the focus for the A220 programme remained on “commercial momentum, production ramp-up and cost reduction”.
The A220 accounted for 135 net commercial aircraft orders out of a total of 747 in 2018.
A220s also accounted for 480 out of an order backlog of 7,577.