Good news for Broughton’s wing makers as United Airlines order 70 Airbus A321 jets

There’s good news for Broughton’s wing makers after a US-based airline placed the largest single order with Airbus since the start of the pandemic.

United Airlines is set to buy 70 Airbus A321 aircraft and adds to an existing order for 50 A321XLR aircraft.

It brings their total commitment from the airline to 120 A321 aircraft.

Many of the newly-ordered aircraft will be assembled at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama, the wings will be made at Broughton.

Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International, said: “Such a significant order from a great airline like United underscores that the A321neo offers unmatched capabilities, operating economics, and passenger friendliness.”

“No other aircraft can do what the A321neo can do, and the Airbus team is most gratified by United’s strong affirmation of its premium status. The A321neo will complement United’s future A321XLR aircraft, together creating a privileged segment on its own.”

The economy of north Wales can look ahead to a stronger future, Minister for Economy Vaughan Gething has said on a visit to the region last week.

He visited the A320 wing production facility at Airbus with Minister for North Wales Lesley Griffiths.

The Minister said the visit was “really positive, I’ve never been to the Airbus site, it was my first visit to actually see physically what happens on that site myself. ”

“I got to meet the management on the site, and met the trades unions who talked about what they’re hoping to do – and they are fairly optimistic about the jobs they managed to safeguard on that site by working between the managers and the trade unions to keep the head count up.”

“They expect that there is going to be a further recovery in the aviation sector, because other parts of the world are open like the United States and parts of Asia, they are already seeing an increase.”