24 November 2012

Airbus in UK. Without wings, aircraft don´t fly.


Airbus employs around 10,000 people across its sites in the UK. The prime industrial responsibilities for Airbus in the UK are the manufacture of wings for all Airbus commercial aircraft. Additional industrial responsibilities for Airbus in the UK include Landing Gear and Fuel Systems.
 Airbus in the UK has two main sites, Broughton in North Wales and Filton in Bristol. 
-Broughton has a workforce of 6,100 and its role is large component manufacture and sub-assembly, specifically for wing final assembly and equipping. A further 2000 people are employed on or about the site, performing ancillary activities in support of Airbus’ core operations. Broughton produces over 500 sets of wings a year, due to projected orders, this is likely to increase in coming years. The 700 acre site at Broughton has seen significant inward investment. Excluding research and development, Airbus has invested over £1.86 billion into the Broughton site during the last 10 years to create a state of the art, high tech, innovative and modern facility.

- Filton has a workforce of 4,000 and its role is engineering research, technology and wing design. The A400M (multi-role airlifter) wing final assembly and equipping is undertaken at Filton. Workers are employed in the design office and in business support roles such as procurement, finance and customer service. Teams work on systems, structures, wing integration, flight physics and aerodynamics research. Filton is also home to the Composite Structures Development Centre. Airbus’ presence in Filton will be enhanced with the future construction of a new aerospace business park, which is to consolidate the site’s engineering, design, customer support and other employees into one highly-efficient office block.

The size and importance of Airbus as a whole to the UK
In addition to those directly employed by Airbus, the UK operation provides work for a further 100,000 people through its extended supply chain of more than 400 companies located throughout the UK, including Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s) and companies located in disadvantaged regions.

 Some of the companies in the UK who directly supply Airbus with components and services to the UK manufacturing operation.

Currently Airbus in the UK and its supply chain provide goods and services worth nearly £1.5billion per annum to the UK economy. Airbus in the UK is one of the UK’s biggest inward investors in research and design.
Airbus in the UK has over 400 apprentices, being one of the largest engineering manufacturing apprenticeships in the UK. Airbus is the first company in the UK to offer the opportunity for apprentices to qualify in three years with a full honours degree, as well as the NVQ Level 4. This investment has meant that 70% of senior managers at Airbus started their careers as apprentices.

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