Get off the ground without Britain’s help

tion has been reflected in similar comments from business organisations such as the CBI and the London Chamber of Commerce – and certainly clarity on the future trading relationship with Europe is very much needed.

But if you look at what Airbus actually does, rather than listening to its rhetoric another picture emerges.

Three facts. First, Airbus buys all of its engines for wide-bodied aircraft from General Electric of America and Rolls-Royce of the UK, while many of its smaller aircraft are powered by CFM engines, a joint venture between GE and a French company called Safran Aircraft Engines. So no Airbus aircraft could fly without American and British support.

Second, two years ago Airbus delivered its first aircraft from a new American plant in Alabama, an A321, bought by the American airline JetBlue. Major parts are shipped in from Europe, with the engines made in the US.

This shows the multi-national is only too happy to use an American plant to source its engines even though there is no trade deal between the US and the EU.

Third, Airbus has bought just over a half share in the C- Series regional jet programme, developed by Bombardier of Canada. The deal goes through in a week’s time. Canada, of course, is outside the EU, but that has not stopped Airbus stepping in.

It looks, by the way, as though Boeing, Airbus’s great and only rival, will be taking a share in the Brazilian company Embraer, which also makes regional jets. Aircraft manufacturing is a global business. The twin giants, Airbus and Boeing, assemble their aircraft with components from all over the world. Under World Trade Organisation rules there are no tariffs on these components.

Boeing, which has more than 250 suppliers in the UK, is opening a plant in Sheffield to produce wing parts for its next-generation aircraft. Its spending in the UK has tripled over the past six years to more than £2billion.

No squealing there about the lack of a trade deal between the UK and US.