'China wing move won't hit jobs here' Airbus pledge for N. Wales plant.Byline: By DAVID JONES David Jones is a common name, particularly in Wales, and there have been several well-known individuals with this name. Variations include Dave Jones and Davy Jones. Business Correspondent MORE work on wings for Airbus airliners is to be carried out in China - but the company is pledging that it won't undermine jobs at its vital Broughton wing making site in north east Wales East Wales is the easternmost part of Wales. The area is loosely-defined, but generally is said to include the traditional counties of Monmouthshire (including the city of Newport), Brecknockshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire (i.e. much of Powys), Flintshire and Denbighshire. . Wing-equipping operations for Chinese-assembled Airbus A320 jets are to start later this year. China's Xian Aircraft Industry (XAC) is to finish and test wings destined for the airliners at a new facility in Tianjin in north eastern China. XAC currently assembles wingbox structures for the A320 in China before transporting them to Broughton for completion. Now the wing-equipping operations, currently based at the Welsh site, are to transfer to China - but only for up to four aircraft a month, Airbus parent group EADS has told Business Post. The fully equipped and tested wings will be directly delivered to the nearby Final Assembly Line China (FALC FALC Frame And Line Interface Component (electrical engineering) FALC French and African Language and Culture Center ). The company plans to deliver its first Chinese-assembled A320 jet to Sichuan Airlines Sichuan Airlines (四川航空) is an airline based in Chengdu, Sichuan in the People's Republic of China. It is a regional airline operating scheduled domestic services. in June or July as part of its bid to compete with Boeing for orders in the world's second-largest aviation market. The Tianjin aircraft assembly plant - a joint venture between Airbus and a Chinese consortium - is expected to deliver 11 jets this year, more than 20 jets next year and 48 in 2011. An Airbus spokeswoman said of the deal with XAC: "It is a transfer of some work currently carried out at Broughton - but will have no impact on employment levels at the Welsh site. Broughton currently produces 36 wings sets a month, but as the work in China is ramped up to four aircraft a month by 2011, that will fall to 32. "Broughton is and will remain the company's centre of expertise for wing manufacture and equipping: the work in China will be done under its control. A small team of managers from Broughton will oversee the industrialisation of wing equipping in China before returning home." The agreement with XAC was signed by Brian Fleet, Broughtonbased Airbus senior vice president, and XAC president Meng Xiangkai in London. Mr Fleet said it was more efficient to have the wingbox facility close to the FALC, saving on transportation costs and ensuring quicker response time to customers. EADS told Business Post: "Wings for the A350 (its latest model) will definitely be built at Broughton." david David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. .r.jones@dailypost.co.uk CAPTION(S): Brian Fleet, Broughton-based Airbus senior vice president, has signed an agreement for more wing work to be carried out in China by Xian Aircraft Industry - but the firm says this will not affect employment levels at the North Wales plant |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion