Prime Minister and Business and Trade Secretary welcome
historic deal for Airbus to provide 220 aircraft for Turkish
Airlines, including 70 powered by Rolls-Royce, in deal worth
billions to UK economy.
Deal will support thousands of highly-skilled
manufacturing jobs across UK, with aircraft wings and engines
made in UK.
Airbus wings are designed in Filton, Bristol
and assembled in Broughton, North Wales with Rolls-Royce
engines made in Derby, representing a major win for UK
manufacturing and economy.
Prime Minister and Business and Trade
Secretary have welcomed a momentous
deal for Airbus to provide 220 aircraft for Turkish Airlines,
which will be worth billions of pounds to the UK. The deal
includes 150 A321 aircraft and 70 A350 family aircraft, the
engines for which will be provided by Rolls-Royce.
The agreement announced by the companies today (15
December) in Istanbul will support thousands of high-skilled
jobs across the UK, helping to boost exports and grow the
economy.
A significant portion of the manufacturing process for the new
aircraft is expected to take place in the UK. All the wings will
be designed in Filton, Bristol, and assembled in North Wales,
supporting hundreds of manufacturing jobs in the UK aerospace
supply chain.
The new A350 aircraft will also be exclusively powered
by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, which are assembled and tested
in Derby, and will deliver 25 percent lower CO2 emissions
compared to previous generation aircraft.
In 2022 the UK’s world-class aerospace sector contributed £10.9
billion to the UK economy, exported around 70 percent of its
domestic output and directly employed 108,000 high-skilled
people, 90 percent of which are outside London and the South
East. It is also a leading sector for high value apprenticeships,
with 5,200 currently employed in sector.
Prime Minister said:
This landmark deal between Turkish Airlines, Airbus and
Rolls-Royce demonstrates that the sky’s the limit for the UK’s
thriving aerospace sector.
Meeting the growing demand in aviation will create better-paid
jobs and new opportunities in manufacturing hubs from Derby to
Wales, so we can continue growing the economy – helping to
deliver on my five priorities for the country.
The UK is already a top investment destination, and by
strengthening trade ties with growing economic powers like Turkey
we will ensure UK businesses remain at the forefront of global
growth and innovation as we build on the record-breaking Global
Investment Summit we hosted in London last month.
Business and Trade Secretary said:
This is a big win for the UK’s world-leading aerospace
sector and one that will help secure high-skilled jobs
across the country and drive economic growth.
This deal is just the latest in a long line of wins for UK
manufacturing, following Nissan’s £2 billion investment in
electric vehicle production in Sunderland and Tata committing £4
billion in a new UK gigafactory.
These successes show our plan for British manufacturing is
working, and our recently released Advanced Manufacturing Plan
will ensure the wins keep coming.
The Government has and continues to provide financial support to
Airbus and Rolls-Royce to develop their civil aircraft and Trent
engine families respectively, through the £1.37 billion
government-industry Aerospace Technology Institute
Programme, keeping the UK at the forefront of global
aerospace innovation.
Rolls-Royce plc CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said:
Today’s announcement marks an exciting and truly historic day for
Rolls-Royce. It is proof that the actions we are taking to
transform Rolls-Royce into a high performing and competitive
company underpinned by profitable growth are working.
The Trent XWB is the perfect engine platform to support Turkish
Airlines as it continues to grow. This order will make Turkish
Airlines the largest Trent XWB operator in the world, and I would
like to thank them for putting their trust in Rolls-Royce.
Türkiye is a strategically important market for us, and it
is imperative to develop long-term partnerships with the airline
and other important Turkish stakeholders.
We look forward to working with Turkish Airlines as they continue
to connect their passengers across global communities and
cultures.
Background:
- Government is providing £685 million in grant funding between
2022-25 for the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme,
and a further £975 million has been earmarked until 2030.
- This is part of a comprehensive approach to supporting growth
of the aerospace sector that includes development of the supply
chain, skills development and export promotion support for sales
to aerospace customers and their airline customers.
