 has warned of plans to move out of the UK due to Brexit concerns. The company said it could move manufacturing of aeroplanes){kind=link}
Airbus (EPA: AIR) has warned of plans to move out of the UK due to Brexit concerns.
The company said it could move the manufacturing of aeroplanes from UK factories to North America, China or elsewhere in Europe.
“We are seriously considering whether we should continue that development or we should find alternate solutions,” said Tom Williams, the chief operating officer of Airbus Commercial Aircraft on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Airbus employs 14,000 people at 25 different sites in the UK. The group supports a further 100,000 jobs in the wider supply chain.
Williams said the government needed to provide more clarity over trading arrangements.
“Over the next weeks we need to get clarify. We are already beginning to press the button on our crisis actions … We have got to be able to protect our employees, our customers and our shareholders and we can’t do that in the current situation,” he said.
The group has made clear that they are not part of “project fear, but its “dawning reality”.
A spokesperson for the UK government said in relation to progress on the customs partnership: “We have made significant progress towards agreeing a deep and special partnership with the EU to ensure trade remains as free and frictionless as possible, including in the aerospace sector, and we’re confident of getting a good deal that is mutually beneficial.”
“Given the good progress that we are continuing to make in the negotiations, we do not expect a no-deal scenario to arise.”
The latest news from Airbus is not the first time the aeroplane maker has demanded clarity from the UK government over Brexit. In March, Katherine Bennett, the senior vice-president for Airbus shared concerns over long waits in Dover.
“It’s critical for our business to ensure that the wings that we build in Broughton and in Filton can get to France and Germany for the final assembly line.”