Airbus orders are flying high

Profits at plane maker Airbus took off last year despite turbulence caused by one of its military aircraft.

The industry giant took a £1.2billion hit from technical problems with the A400M military plane. But bumper orders elsewhere helped annual profits jump from £883million to £2.5bn as the firm sold just over 1,100 commercial planes and 335 helicopters.

Airbus employs 15,000 people at 25 sites in the UK including the Filton factory in Bristol and Broughton, North Wales, which makes wings for all Airbus commercial jets.