Airbus Pledges Expansion in the U.K. After Brexit

(Bloomberg) -- Airbus SE signaled that it’s ready to move beyond a previously uneasy relationship with the U.K. over Brexit, saying the future of its British wing plants is secure and pledging to work with the government to expand a business that goes from helicopter maintenance to planetary rovers.

Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, which will see Britain leave the European Union on Jan. 31, means the split from the bloc “is at least now for certain,” though the nature of future ties still needs to be worked out.

The European aerospace giant, which employs more than 13,500 people at 25 U.K. sites and supports 100,000 supplier jobs, warned under previous CEO Tom Enders that future production might be in doubt as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit threatened to create border delays and inflate costs. Faury said in November that Britain represents a very strong industrial and technical base that Airbus has no desire to leave and his latest comments indicate a further thawing in relations.

“Airbus is committed to the U.K. and to working with the new government on an ambitious industrial strategy,” Faury said late Wednesday at a company event in London. “We see great potential to improve and expand our operations in the U.K. this year.”

Wings for all Airbus models are made in Britain, chiefly at sites near Chester and Bristol, as well as in Belfast at a plant previously owned by Bombardier Inc. and now operated by Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. The U.K. will also play a vital role in helping Airbus transition to low- and zero-carbon technology, Faury said, while also praising its increased funding for the European Space Agency.

Andrea Leadsom, Johnson’s business secretary, said at the gathering that Britain was proud to be one of four Airbus “home nations” and pledged U.K. support for EU efforts to reach a negotiated settlement in the company’s clash with the U.S. and Boeing Co. over aircraft subsidies.

Britain added 2,000 aerospace jobs last year and the government plans further steps to support Airbus and the sector as a whole after Brexit, she said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Charlotte Ryan in London at cryan147@bloomberg.net;Siddharth Philip in London at sphilip3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper, Brendan Case

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