Airbus in the UK, was named winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, it was announced yesterday.
Airbus Operations director, Tom Williams, said:
“We are very proud and honoured to receive this award which recognises the significant UK expertise and skills which goes towards producing the leading range of aircraft in operation with airlines around the world.
“It was clearly recognised that we operate in a highly competitive market requiring commitment to very high research and development spending and to long term strategies that require several years to reach maturity.
“Aerospace is big business for the UK and Airbus spends more than £2bn annually with more than 1,000 UK suppliers, around 45 per cent of which are small and medium size enterprises.
“We make a major contribution in supporting the UK’s status as a leading aerospace exporter.”
The aircraft manufacturers received the accolade for overseas sales growth in the last three years.
The Queen’s Awards panel also noted Airbus’s understanding of the future needs of customers and its attention to environmental issues by striving for improved fuel consumption.
Airbus facilities in Filton, Bristol and Broughton, North Wales design and manufacture aircraft wings for the full range of the Airbus aircraft.
The wings are transported to final assembly lines in France and Germany, where they are assembled to form completed aircrafts ready to be exported.
More than 13,800 Airbus aircraft have been ordered by 352 customers globally to date.
Around 10,000 are directly employed in the UK, with a further 100,000 employed through the extended supply chain within the UK.
