Following Boeing’s acquisition of Spirit Aerosystems, Airbus has entered into a binding term agreement, which will see the manufacturer acquire the A220 wings and mid-fuselage production in Northern Ireland and Morocco, A220 pylons in Wichita, US, and the A350 fuselage sections in the US and France.
Through this agreement, Airbus aims to ensure the stability of supply for its commercial aircraft programmes, both operationally and financially. Airbus will be compensated via a payment of US$559 million from Spirit AeroSystems, with a symbolic payment of $1, subject to final adjustments.
Spirit has been based in Northern Ireland since 2019, when the Bombardier programme was bought and finalised in October 2020, and Spirit acquired the entire work package for the A220 wing manufacturing processes and technology.
Patrick M. Shanahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Spirit, said: “We are proud of the part we have played in Airbus’ programmes and believe bringing these programmes under Airbus ownership will enable greater integration and alignment.”
In a comment made to LARA, an Airbus spokesperson said that this agreement was an “important step towards securing the sourcing of various work packages currently provided by Spirit”. The agreement will also contribute towards securing its operations, protecting its ability to ramp-up as well as the sourcing of its aircraft programmes, Airbus said.
This year, Airbus has cut its 2024 delivery timelines and pushed back its projected ramp-up for the A320 Family, citing difficulties with the supply chain. This acquisition will, the OEM hopes, go someway to alleviating this.
Airbus also added to LARA that it would take time to run a due diligence process, which is anticipated to last throughout the summer of 2024, and expects the transaction to close before year-end 2024, subject to all regulatory approvals.
Photo: Airbus
