Latest news: Airbus factory secures 6,000 jobs

A £400million Airbus factory will open in Wales today, securing the future of the 6,000 employees at the site. 13/10/2011

The 700-acre site in Broughton, Flintshire will manufacture wings for the aviation company’s new aircraft, the A350. The factory is the largest to have been built in the past five years.

Approximately 650 staff will work directly in the factory, with Airbus having received over 550 orders for the aircraft which is expected to be operational within two years. A further 5,000 jobs will be secured in other distribution areas by the opening of the factory.

The factory will be opened by Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones after the Welsh Government invested £29million in the project to retrain employees.

‘The wings being made here showcase us at our best - a world-class company based here in Wales making a product that will be used across the world,’ said Mr Jones.

‘We are proud of our partnership approach with Airbus, Glyndwr University and Deeside College to create the Advanced Composite Training and Development Centre next to this site, which has not only facilitated the training of Airbus staff to work in this wonderful new factory, but is also open for use by other businesses with an interest in composite technologies,’ he added.

Airbus claims that A350 will be 25% more fuel efficient than its competitor airliners due to more than half the wing being made of carbon fibre.