Article from BTNews 23 OCTOBER 2017
Bombardier/Airbus tie the knot
In a move that took the industry by surprise last week, Airbus and Bombardier announced they are to become partners on the C-Series aircraft programme, bringing together Airbus’ global reach and scale with Bombardier’s newest aircraft family.
The companies said the agreement positioned both partners “to fully unlock the value of the C-Series platform of state-of-the-art jets and create significant new value for customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders”.
The news will not please Boeing, which is locked in a dispute with Bombardier over alleged subsidy irregularities surrounding the sale of the C-Series to Delta Air Lines and successfully petitioned US authorities to impose high tariffs on the aircraft.
Crucially, part of the Airbus/Bombardier partnership means aircraft for the US market will be assembled at the Airbus factory in Alabama – potentially circumventing the tariff problem.
Airbus said the market for single-aisle jets such as the C-Series was a key growth driver, representing 70% of expected future demand. The C-Series, with 100-150 seats, was “highly complementary” to Airbus’ existing single-aisle aircraft portfolio, it added.
The future of the C-Series and of Bombardier is also crucial to Belfast, where the manufacturer employs more than 4,500 staff, around 1,000 of whom work directly on the C-Series.
(See also COMMENT in this issue)
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum