Production hike at Airbus set to boost city's aerospace sector
European plane-maker Airbus has said it will step up production of its new A350 aircraft - which could be good news for Wolverhampton's thriving aerospace sector which supplies parts and services for the widebody passenger jet.
Both the Moog and UTC Aerospace Systems' Actuation & Propeller Systems factories in the town have teams working on the A350 programme.
An increase in production should prove good news for both firms, and for the scores of other companies across the wider West Midlands involved in the aerospace sector.
They will all be buoyed by Airbus' announcement this morning that it had boosted its profits and is forecasting further growth this year.
The firm, which employs around 135,000 staff including around 10,000 in the UK, said it would ramp up production of its long-range widebody A350 to seven a month, in line with growing air traffic forecasts this year.
It added that its A380 superjumbo had broken even for the first time.
Overall, the firm said its 2015 underlying earnings lifted 2% to £4.1 billion, buoyed by operational efficiencies and a record order book.
It said orders at the end of December totalled £792 billion and that last year it received orders for 1,080 commercial aircraft.
Airbus has major sites in Filton, near Bristol, and Broughton, North Wales, where wings for the planes are made and assembled.
Chief executive Tom Enders said: "The record order book supports our commercial aircraft ramp-up plans and we are driving operational efficiency.
"The 2015 results reflect our solid financial and operational performance. We have delivered on our commitments and have maintained our outlook for 2016 and beyond."
The firm said it expects the world economy and air traffic to grow this year "in line with prevailing independent forecasts and assumes no major disruptions".
It plans to deliver more than 650 planes and expects its commercial order book to continue to grow.
The business also makes corporate and freighter aircraft as well as helicopters and telecommunication satellites.
Analysts at Jefferies said that in light of production setbacks at the firm over the last two years, "for Airbus Group to have remained on that course is, frankly, almost remarkable, in our view".
