Airbus UK

Airbus UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus SAS which produces wings for the Airbus aircraft family. When Airbus was incorporated as a joint-stock company in 2001 BAE transferred its UK Airbus facilities in return for a 20% share of the new company. These facilities became Airbus UK. Airbus UK has two main sites responsible for the design and manufacture of the high-technology wings for all Airbus models as well as overall design and supply of the fuel system. For most Airbus models the company is responsible for overall design and supply of landing gear. The company employs around 13,000 people at two sites: Filton, where the engineering and design activity takes place along with some manufacturing, and Broughton where other major wing component manufacturing and all wing assembly takes place.

History

Airbus UK (Filton)

Hawker Siddeley (which merged with British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1977 to form British Aerospace) was part of the first Airbus project, the Airbus A300. The British government withdrew support in 1969 but Hawker Siddeley was allowed to continue as supplier of the aircraft's wings due to the advanced stages of design and the reluctance of other nations to take over the wing design. In 1979 BAe rejoined the Airbus consortium. In 2001 Airbus Industrie became Airbus S.A.S., the Airbus Integrated Company.

Airbus UK started work on the wings for the Airbus A380 in August 2002.^[2]

In April 2006 BAE Systems announced its intention to sell its share of Airbus SAS to EADS.^[3] BAE originally sought to agree a price with EADS through an informal process. However, due to the slow pace of negotiations and disagreements over price, BAE exercised its put option which saw investment bank Rothschild appointed to give an independent valuation.

On July 2, 2006 Rothschild valued BAE's stake at £1.9 billion (€2.75 billion); well below the expectation of BAE, analysts and even EADS.^[4] On 5 July 2006 BAE appointed independent auditors to study why the value of its share of Airbus had fallen from the original estimates to the Rothschild valuation. On 6 September 2006 BAE agreed to sell its stake in Airbus to EADS for £1.87 billion (€2.75 billion, $3.53 billion), pending BAE shareholder approval.^[5] On 4 October shareholders voted in favour of the sale.^[6]

Sites

Airbus wing design and production was assigned to UK largely because of the advanced wing design of Hawker Siddeley Trident (D.H.121), designed by De Havilland. In the early days of Airbus, De Havilland design teams based in Hatfield worked on Airbus wing design and wing assembly was carried out in Broughton (a De Havilland manufacturing site). When Hawker Siddeley (the parent company of De Havilland) became part of British Aerospace, the Hatfield site was closed. From the 1990s onwards, Airbus design work has been carried out at the Filton site, which was originally the Bristol Aeroplane Company.^[7]

Filton

The Filton site is located on the former Bristol Aeroplane Company site, which was later used as the final assembly line for the British-built Concorde aircraft (the French-built Concordes were assembled in Toulouse, which is also now an Airbus site).

Airbus Filton employs over 4,500 people in a variety of roles. The site is responsible for the design of the wing structure, fuel systems and landing gear integration. Some manufacturing also takes place in Filton, including the wing assembly for the A400M. Aerodynamics work, research and testing is also carried out.^[8] In 2008, Airbus sold most of the component manufacturing activities on the Filton site to GKN,^[9] which continues use these facilities to manufacture Airbus parts as a subcontractor. In 2011 Airbus announced the construction of a new office complex, referred to as the "Aerospace Park", at the Filton site.^[10]

Broughton

The current Airbus Broughton site was founded in 1939 as a Shadow Factory for the production of the Vickers Wellington and the Avro Lancaster. After the War De Havilland took over the factory and it was used to produce various aircraft, including the Mosquito and the Comet.^[11]

Today Airbus Broughton employs over 5,000 people, mostly in manufacturing roles. The site is responsible for the wing assembly for all Airbus aircraft, with the exception of the Chinese A320s (these wings are assembled in China) and the A400M (assembled in Filton). Airbus wings are transported by Airbus Beluga or ship (in the case of the A380) to the final assembly lines at Airbus Toulouse.^[8]

Aircraft

• Airbus A300 (production ceased)
• Airbus A310 (production ceased)
• Airbus A310 MRTT
• Airbus A320 family
• Airbus A330
• Airbus A330 MRTT
• Airbus A340 (production ceased)
• Airbus A350
• Airbus A380
• Airbus A400M
• Airbus Beluga

See also

• Airbus UK F.C., an Airbus UK football club based in Wales.

References

Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Economy of the United Kingdom Manufacturing in the United Kingdom Companies Current AD Aerospace AgustaWestland Airbus UK Astrium Satellites (Surrey Satellite Technology) BAE Systems (BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies BAE Systems Military Air Solutions Eurofighter GmbH (33%) MBDA (37.5%)) BBA Aviation Boeing Defence UK British Airways Engineering Britten-Norman Chemring Group Cobham (Cobham Technical Services) Euravia GE Aviation Systems GFS Projects GKN Hants and Sussex Aviation Hybrid Air Vehicles IRVIN-GQ Lindstrand Technologies Lockheed Martin UK Marshall Aerospace Martin-Baker Meggitt Messier-Bugatti-Dowty QinetiQ Reaction Engines Rolls-Royce Selex ES Short Brothers Telespazio VEGA Thales Air Defence Thales Optronics Ultra Electronics Defunct ADC Aircraft AJEP Abbott-Baynes Sailplanes ABC Motors Air Navigation and Engineering Company Airco The Airscrew Company Airship Industries Airspeed Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Arrow Aircraft Auster Austin Motor Company Aviation Traders Avro Beagle Aircraft William Beardmore and Company Blackburn Aircraft Boulton & Paul Boulton Paul Aircraft Bristol Aeroplane Company British Aerial Transport British Aerospace British Aircraft Company British Aircraft Corporation British Aircraft Manufacturing BTR Aerospace Central Aircraft Company Chilton Aircraft Chrislea Aircraft Clayton & Shuttleworth Comper Aircraft Company Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft Dart Aircraft de Havilland de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School de Havilland Propellers Desoutter Aircraft Company Dowty Group Dowty Rotol Dunlop Standard Aerospace E. D. Abbott Edgar Percival Aircraft Elliotts of Newbury English Electric Fairey Aviation Company Fane Aircraft Company Ferranti Folland Aircraft Foster, Wikner Aircraft Garland Aircraft Company General Aircraft General Electric Company Gloster Aircraft Company Grahame-White Handley Page Hawker Aircraft Hawker Siddeley Heston Aircraft Company Hewlett & Blondeau Hordern-Richmond Hunting Aircraft Lakes Flying Company Luton Aircraft M. B. Arpin & Co. Marconi Company Marconi Electronic Systems Martinsyde Matra Marconi Space Miles Aircraft Moss Brothers Aircraft Napier & Son Nash & Thomson National Aircraft Factory No. 2 Nieuport & General Aircraft Norman Thompson Flight Company Parnall Parnall & Sons Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot Lang Propellers Reid and Sigrist Rollason Aircraft and Engines Royal Aircraft Establishment Saunders-Roe Scottish Aviation Seaplane Experimental Station SELEX Galileo SELEX Sistemi Integrati Siddeley-Deasy Sopwith Aviation Company Spartan Aircraft Supermarine Vickers Vickers-Armstrongs Westland Aircraft Westland Helicopters J. Samuel White Government and regulatory bodies Civil Aviation Authority Defence Electronics and Components Agency Defence Science and Technology Laboratory European Aviation Safety Agency Related topics ADS Group Aircraft manufactured in the United Kingdom Air International Air Service Training British aerospace engineers Farnborough Airshow Flight International Key Publishing NATS Holdings NDI UK ParcAberporth Royal Aeronautical Society Society of British Aerospace Companies Category