Airbus

About the sponsor

Building on a proud 100-year British aviation heritage, Airbus is part of the very fabric of the UK – which is one of the company’s four home markets, alongside France, Germany and Spain. Its 11,700-strong UK workforce is part of a global family of 131,000 employees around the world.

Each of the divisions – Airbus, Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defence and Space – leads their respective market, relying on diverse skills, advanced technologies and facilities that can only be found in Britain, across more than 25 sites stretching the length and breadth of the country from Aberdeen to Portsmouth.

Britain, with its global influence within the aerospace, defence, space and security sectors, remains an important part of Airbus. And Airbus remains an important part of the UK – with local revenues of £3.9 billion.

Today, Airbus is the largest commercial aerospace company in the UK, as well as its biggest civil aerospace exporter. The majority of the wings on Airbus commercial aircraft are designed and built there.

Airbus also is Britain’s largest space company, a world-leader in cyber security, and the biggest supplier of large aircraft to the RAF, through the A400M Atlas and the A330 MRTT Voyager.

As Britain’s civil helicopter hub, Airbus represents around 50% of the UK’s civil helicopter fleet and is a key supplier to the Ministry of Defence.

Over the last ten years, Airbus has trained more than 1,100 apprentices and has collaborations with more than 20 universities, spending £290 million in UK Research & Development.

Airbus’ worldwide activity supports a £5 billion gross value-added contribution to UK GDP. Each year Airbus spends in excess of £4.5 billion with UK suppliers, supporting a supply chain comprising more than 2,000 companies, ranging from large primes like Rolls-Royce and GKN to hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Each supplier plays a vital role in helping Airbus deliver its world-leading products.