‘WORKER MOBILITY NEEDED TO SAVE JOBS’
Vital for aerospace manufacturing to remain exempt from import duties, warns plane maker
AIRBUS SE said the next United Kingdom government must guarantee the plane maker’s ability to move people between plants in Britain and continental Europe in order to safeguard the long-term future of production in the country.
It was also vital for aerospace manufacturing to remain exempt from import duties once Britain quit the European Union, said Airbus chief executive officer Tom Enders on Thursday at the company’s headquarters, here.
Airbus employs 15,000 people in Britain at sites including the giant Broughton plant in north Wales, which makes wings for all of the company’s jets.
The manufacturer also has a wing-design facility at Filton, in southwest England, as well as space and satellite factories in Portsmouth on the south coast and at Stevenage near London.
“We are a company that obviously has an interest in a free flow of people,” said Enders.
“Mobility between our sites in Europe is crucial. Sending people from Toulouse to Broughton, from Broughton to Hamburg and so on, that is very important.”
While the UK sites are among the most efficient in the entire group, “any tariff barriers could also potentially impact the competitiveness of our activities in Britain,” the chief executive officer warned.
Enders added that while he was hopeful the new British administration would understand the “huge importance” of the aerospace and defence industry to the country, there could be no certainties.
Meanwhile, Airbus raised its 20-year forecast for aircraft demand yesterday to 34,170 jetliners and 730 freighters worth US$5.3 trillion (RM22.6 trillion), while trimming its traffic growth outlook.
Airbus also forecast strong demand for repairs, training and upgrade work as the world’s fleet tops 40,000 jets by 2036.
But in online presentations ahead of a media briefing it trimmed its rolling 20-year forecast for air traffic growth to 4.4 per cent a year, from 4.5 per cent, as it took a more cautious view on mature markets such as North America. Bloomberg