UK and Airbus join forces for advanced aircraft wing and fuel research projects
The Airbus centre in UK's Bristol will lead two new aerospace research projects for which the British government has announced 14 million pounds (approx. AU$29.11 million) allocated as funding.
UK government’s Business Secretary Sajid Javid said the industry funding would help the UK aerospace sector grow robustly. Over the next 10 years, he said, the government would invest 900 million pounds (AU$1.8 billion) in aerospace research.
The announcement was made at Airbus's Filton HQ where 4,000 people are employed. The total investment will be pooled among the Aerospace Technology Institute, government and industry funding, reports BBC.
Among the projects, one will be exploring production, weight-reduction and cost control of next generation advanced aircraft wings. The second project will study maintenance of new aircraft fuel systems.
Success story
Calling aerospace a “real success story for the UK”, the senior official said the initiative of the government and industry will "produce results.” The wing manufacturing technology and fuel systems will be led from Filton even though overall research will be carried out across the UK.
Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier expressed pleasure at the long term commitment by the UK.
“There is a competition among countries. I can get support in France, in Germany and I'm very pleased to get a long-term commitment, at least until 2026, from the UK,” he said. Brégier said the UK was a world leader in aircraft wing and fuel system development and the investment would "help secure this position for decades to come".
Airbus gets more orders
Meanwhile, Airbus Group said it has got more than 1,000 jetliner orders in the first 11 months of 2015. It delivered 556 jetliners in 2015, through November with 73 more planes to be be delivered before the year-end to match the tally of 2014. Boeing has delivered 709 planes through November.
What is interesting is that rival Boeing is trailing behind the European plane maker in terms of orders booked so far, reports The Wall Street Journal. The net order bookings of Airbus through November reached 1,007 planes. In November, it added 169 plane deals. According to sources, Boeing got only 568 plane orders until Dec. 2.
Airbus now has a backlog of 6,837 aircraft orders and is busy ramping up output after demand soared for some of its popular models.
For feedback/comments, contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au or let us know what you think below.
