Boeing will acquire Spirit AeroSystems’ Belfast site – save for Airbus A220 work – as part of its planned acquisition of the aerostructures supplier.
Wichita-based Spirit says it has found no other buyer for the Short Brothers site in Belfast, Northern Ireland, meaning it will land with Boeing.
“To date, no suitable buyer has been secured for the remaining Belfast operations,” Spirit said on 2 July. “Accordingly, the remaining Belfast operations will transfer to Boeing.”
The Belfast facility produces A220 wings and mid-fuselage sections, and fuselages for Canadian firm Bombardier’s Challenger and Global business jets.
Airbus had already agreed, when Boeing acquires Spirit, to take over the A220 wing production at Belfast. Spirit had been seeking a third-party buyer for Belfast’s A220 mid-fuselage and Bombardier fuselage production.
But in line with Spirit’s agreements, if no buyer is found, the A220 mid-fuselage work transfers to Airbus and Boeing gets the rest of the Belfast operation.
Spirit has now confirmed that no buyer materialised, meaning the above scenario comes into effect.
“We will warmly welcome Short Brothers Belfast to the Boeing family,” the US airframer says. “Boeing taking ownership of Belfast is an outcome we’ve known was a possibility for some time.”
Boeing has said it aims to close its acquisition of Spirit by mid-year, meaning the deal could be finalised anytime.
“We greatly appreciate the rich legacy and history of this facility, and the aerospace skill set found in Northern Ireland where we already have a strong supply chain and strategic university partnership with Queen’s University Belfast,” Boeing adds. “We will be good stewards of the business.”
“Spirit has a responsibility to ensure the smooth transition of those operations and employees who will transfer to Airbus at the closing of the divestiture,” Spirit adds. “We are formally advising those Belfast employees who are or may be impacted by the transfer to Airbus”.
Asked to comment, Bombardier – the plant’s former owner – says, “We actively engaged with all parties to ensure continuity and quality of supply. We remain open to all solutions with regards to the site’s future.”
Airbus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Airbus also agreed to acquire Spirit’s A320neo and A350 wing component work in Prestwick, Scotland, its A350 centre-section panel production work in Kinston, North Carolina, its A350 programme work in St Nazaire France and its A320 work in Casablanca.
On 30 June, the UK Competition & Markets Authority said it launched a competitive review of the Boeing-Spirit deal.
“This inquiry… was anticipated and is part of the normal part of the normal process for acquisitions of this nature,” Spirit says.
