Airbus deal lifts Belfast plant but future remains uncertain

Airbus’s major order from Polish airline LOT for up to 84 A220 aircraft puts Belfast’s wing manufacturing facility back in the spotlight. While the deal secures future demand for the A220 wings, currently built by Spirit AeroSystems in east Belfast, it comes at a pivotal moment. Airbus is in the process of acquiring Spirit’s A220 operations, but the rest of Spirit’s Belfast business, tied to Bombardier jets, faces an unclear future. 

With Boeing and Airbus splitting Spirit’s global assets, unions are urging the UK government to back a unified ownership model to protect local production lines and high-skilled aerospace jobs. This is a key lesson in industrial consolidation: future orders mean little without strategic clarity on operational continuity.

Read the full article to explore what this means for UK aerospace supply chains and sector-wide resilience.