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Friday, July 18, 2008, 07:39
A deal to build the new £250 million Airbus composite plant at Easter Compton, part of a joint venture with partner company GKN, is likely to be signed in the next few weeks.
Details emerged as the planemaker, which currently employs around 6,000 people at Filton, announced new orders worth a total of £20 billion at the Farnborough Air Show - beating arch-rival Boeing, which managed just £8 billion.
GKN, which is partnering Airbus on the next generation of lightweight aircraft parts, wants to set up a wing plant in Easter Compton to produce the composite materials for planes including the A350 XWB, the firm’s new mid-range plane.
GKN and Airbus are looking at housing the wing development team in existing empty warehouses rather than building a new factory, which was originally planned.
Amicus union representatives, who originally feared the move would mark the start of a decline at Filton, have now welcomed GKN’s plans for the new site.
Every Airbus staff member based in Filton has been invited to presentations by GKN about its plans for Filton.
The deal is awaiting the final signing of a contract between Airbus and GKN, which Airbus UK chief Tom Williams told Farnborough “would happen in weeks.”
Airbus union chiefs, including works convenor Mark Thomas, met with GKN Aerospace chief executive officer Marcus Bryson on Wednesday to seek clarification on Filton’s future.
Mr Thomas said yesterday that the meeting reassured the union that there would be “substantial” investment in both the existing Airbus site at Filton and in Easter Compton.
He said: “I can confirm that we are now in a position to support the GKN proposal for the purchase of Filton operations with the A350 facility being located at Easter Compton.
“Our decision to support this process is based around the commitments that we have been given for further investment/work packages that will be placed into both the Filton and Easter Compton facilities.
“We’re much happier with the situation now that we’ve met with GKN.
“We are now awaiting the signing of the deal between GKN and Airbus, which we hope will be done in the next week.
“We’ve been told work on the A350 will definitely be done at Easter Compton, which will mean another 300 to 400 more staff will be taken on, in addition to the 6,000 staff which already work at Airbus in Filton at the moment.”
In a statement, GKN said: “Both parties remain optimistic of an early conclusion. Both Airbus and GKN continue to keep key stakeholders, including all affected employees, the Trade Unions and the UK and regional Government agencies, informed of progress.”
Airbus announced yesterday it will sell 10 long-haul A350 XWB aircraft to South American consortium Synergy Aerospace in a deal worth £1 billion at catalogue prices.
The deal takes Airbus' total orders so far at the week-long Farnborough Air Show to 251 planes worth £20 billion - more than double the value of the orders taken by Chicago-based Boeing which has booked 152 deals worth £8.4 billion.
Etihad Airways, the state carrier of the United Arab Emirates, which has made the biggest order by an airline so far at Farnborough, splitting an order for 100 aircraft between Airbus and Boeing worth £10 billion at list prices.
Other deals have been signed by Qatar Airways, FlyDubai, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Asiana Airlines and Arik Air since the show began on Monday.
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