Airbus has finalised a record $26.6bn (£17bn) deal to sell 250 A320neo planes to an Indian budget airline in a boost for engineers working for the European aerospace group in the UK.
The deal with no-frills carrier IndiGo, which confirms an earlier provisional order for the planes, is the single-largest order for Airbus.
The wings for Airbus’s A320 planes will be made at Broughton in north Wales, before being sent on to aircraft production lines in Hamburg, Toulouse or China.
The company employs 16,000 people in the UK and produces 1,000 aircraft wings a year at the Broughton plant. The aerospace industry is worth about £24bn a year to the UK economy and it is seen by the government – along with the automotive sector – as a poster child for British manufacturing.
However, Airbus has warned recently that a British exit from the EU could threaten the presence of the Franco-German group in the UK. Speaking in May, the UK head of Airbus, Paul Kahn, said: “If, after an exit from the European Union, economic conditions in Britain were less favourable for business than in other parts of Europe, or beyond, would Airbus reconsider future investment in the UK? Yes, absolutely.”
The latest deal extends the lead of Airbus in the most lucrative market in commercial aerospace, for narrow-body planes, where it is pitched against US rival Boeing. The A320 family of planes, which includes the A320neo, the latest, most fuel-efficient model, are the most popular single-aisle aircraft in the world, with more than 11,800 orders to date and 6,600 aircraft delivered to 400 different airlines.
17/08/15 Jennifer Rankin/Agencies/The Guardian
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The deal with no-frills carrier IndiGo, which confirms an earlier provisional order for the planes, is the single-largest order for Airbus.
The wings for Airbus’s A320 planes will be made at Broughton in north Wales, before being sent on to aircraft production lines in Hamburg, Toulouse or China.
The company employs 16,000 people in the UK and produces 1,000 aircraft wings a year at the Broughton plant. The aerospace industry is worth about £24bn a year to the UK economy and it is seen by the government – along with the automotive sector – as a poster child for British manufacturing.
However, Airbus has warned recently that a British exit from the EU could threaten the presence of the Franco-German group in the UK. Speaking in May, the UK head of Airbus, Paul Kahn, said: “If, after an exit from the European Union, economic conditions in Britain were less favourable for business than in other parts of Europe, or beyond, would Airbus reconsider future investment in the UK? Yes, absolutely.”
The latest deal extends the lead of Airbus in the most lucrative market in commercial aerospace, for narrow-body planes, where it is pitched against US rival Boeing. The A320 family of planes, which includes the A320neo, the latest, most fuel-efficient model, are the most popular single-aisle aircraft in the world, with more than 11,800 orders to date and 6,600 aircraft delivered to 400 different airlines.
17/08/15 Jennifer Rankin/Agencies/The Guardian
