Airbus confirms interest in parts of Spirit Aerosystems

Airbus has confirmed its interest in potentially acquiring portions of the Spirit Aerosystems business.

Spirit Aerosystems holds a significant presence in Northern Ireland, particularly in the production of wings for the Airbus A220. It stands as one of Northern Ireland’s foremost manufacturing entities, boasting a workforce exceeding 3,000 employees.

Recently, Boeing, Airbus’s competitor, announced it has begun discussions regarding the acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems. However, it’s unlikely that Boeing would keep the segments of the business that cater to Airbus.

In an interview with CNBC, Airbus’s chief financial officer confirmed the company’s potential interest in buying certain assets from Spirit.

“In light of the situation today where Boeing has potentially the interest to take over Spirit, we could also imagine that some of the work packages could find their way to Airbus and we take them over,” said Thomas Toepfer.

“But that quite frankly is a discussion that’s in the very, very early stages,” he added.

“It’s very important for us that we have a stable relationship with Spirit, over the last number of months we’ve worked with them to support their performance.”