European aircraft maker Airbus is set to take over all or part of operations at four Spirit AeroSystems plants as part of an imminent deal involving rival Boeing, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources.
The two main factories involved in the move to Airbus are Kinston, North Carolina, where Spirit makes a crucial part of the A350 fuselage, known as Section 15, and a factory in Northern Ireland that makes wings in carbon for the A220.
Spirit was spun off from Boeing in 2005 and has since become a supplier to Airbus. The European aircraft manufacturer now represents around a fifth of Spirit’s turnover, with the majority going to Boeing.
Here are details of Spirit’s main factories that supply commercial and business aircraft programs:
LOCATION COMPONENT MANUFACTURED APPROXIMATELY
NAME OF
EMPLOYEES
Wichita, United States – Fuselage, pylon, attack wing 12,590
attack, thrust reverser and engine
engine nacelle of the Boeing 737 built in
Wichita, Kansas, where Spirit
its headquarters. The area covers 150
buildings covering 12.7 million square feet.
– Composite front fuselage and
engine pylons for the Boeing 787
Dreamliner also built in Wichita.
Tulsa, USA – Fixed wing leading edge and wing 1,110
mobile leading edge for Boeing 787
Dreamliner built in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and in Subang, Malaysia.
– The Tulsa plant is made up of 1.7
million square feet of construction area
on an area of 147 acres.
Kinston, USA – Airbus 590 center section panels
A350 built in Kinston, North
North Carolina.
Belfast, – Design and manufacture of 3,400
advanced composite wings for Airbus
Ireland A220.
– Manufacturing of the central fuselage of the Airbus A220
Bombardier Challenger 350 business
Bombardier Challenger 350 and Bombardier Challenger 650 business jets
business jet.
– Manufacturing of the front fuselage
and other components for
Bombardier Global 5500 et 6500
the Bombardiers.
– Manufacturing of composite materials
horizontal composite for
Bombardier Global 7500 business
Bombardier Global 7500 business model.
Casablanca, – The Casablanca site assembles 220
Morocco for Bombardier
Challenger 350 de Bombardier.
– Bombardier floor assembly
Bombardier Global 5500 and 6500.
– The Casablanca site covers 7 hectares
and totals 312,000 square feet with
access to Moroccan aeronautical space
Moroccan aeronautics.
Prestwick, – The company builds avant-garde wings and 1,120
Scotland trailing edge elements of all
Airbus A320 at Prestwick, Scotland
the Prestwick factory.
– Prestwick factory includes
988,000 square feet of building space, broken down as follows:
on 93 acres.
Saint-Nazaire – After the central section, panels of 135
Airbus A350s of France are built in Kinston,
they are incorporated into the
fuselage in Saint-Nazaire and
transported to Airbus.
– The Saint-Nazaire plant commissioned on the 9th
acres and totals 75,000 square feet.
Subang, – Fixed wing leading edge and 1,000 wing
Malaysia Mobile Leading Edge for Boeing 787
Dreamliner built in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and in Subang, Malaysia.
– The Subang factory, with an area of 411,000 square feet
is 34% owned by Spirit and is located in
45 acres leased.
Source – Company website, SEC filings
