Flying the rainbow flag – Airbus to sponsor this year’s Chester Pride event

Airbus has announced it is to sponsor this year’s Chester LGBT Pride event. 

The Aerospace giant, which employs 6,000 people in Flintshire has also launched a LGBT+ staff network at its wing-manufacturing site in Broughton.

The planemaker even managed to get its iconic super-transporter aircraft, the Beluga, in on the act.

Airbus engineer Rob Hurley, co-chair of the Pride@Airbus staff network, said: “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with this year’s Chester Pride on the day we also launch our LGBT+ staff network in Broughton.

In recent years, Airbus has made enormous strides globally to demonstrate it’s a great company to work for, no matter your background.

The Pride@Airbus network now covers all major Airbus UK sites, including Filton, near Bristol, Portsmouth, Stevenage and Newport, as well as the company’s operations in the US, France, Germany, Spain and India, where homosexuality has only recently been decriminalised.

Head of Broughton Plant Paul McKinlay said: “We value and welcome diversity in our workforce.

We want the best talent to join us in what are exciting times for Airbus in the UK and we positively encourage people, whatever their background, to come and see what we’re all about.

We hope our sponsorship of Chester Pride sends out a strong and clear message that Airbus in Broughton is a great place to work for anyone identifying as LGBT, while demonstrating our commitment to existing LGBT employees that we are here to support them in any way we can.”

 Chair of Chester Pride Warren Lee Allmark said: “We are thrilled to welcome Airbus on board as a sponsor for 2019. In the seven years Chester Pride has existed, we have built up strong relationships with large employers in the local area; to have Airbus on board shows how far we have come in such a short time.

By working closely with Airbus over the last few months, we are able to reflect our shared values and commitment to equality and diversity to all of our guests attending on 10 August.”