Chequers Brexit plan is ‘unravelling’, declares Airbus chief

THE “unravelling” of the Chequers Brexit plan shows there is “all the more reason” for Airbus to activate contingency plans, its boss has claimed.

Tom Enders, chief executive of the European plane-maker, said he thought the Government was making progress before the political turmoil of recent days.

He explained that his primary concerns over the UK’s withdrawal from the EU were difficulties in receiving and sending parts amid warnings of long queues at ports.

Airbus operates a just-in-time supply chain but is “now activating contingency plans” which involve stockpiling parts to “mitigate the effects” of delays, Mr Enders said.

With thousands of his staff travelling between the UK and the rest of the EU each year, potential restrictions on freedom of movement was also “something that is worrying us”, he added.

In his latest intervention on the Government’s handling of Brexit, Mr Enders told a press conference at Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire: “I thought that the White Paper was going in the right direction, that Chequers was going in the right direction.

“Now we see it unravelling again, so all the more reason for us to take those serious decisions.”

Airbus employs 15,000 people at 15 UK sites, including more than 6,000 in Broughton, north Wales, and has warned it could leave the UK if there is no transition deal.

Earlier this month, Mr Enders accused the Government of having “no clue” how to execute Brexit.