PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - Airbus issued its strongest warning yet over the impact of Britain’s departure from the European Union, saying a withdrawal without a deal would force it to reconsider its long-term position and put thousands of British jobs at risk.
In a memorandum issued late on Thursday, Airbus said current plans for a transition period ending in December 2020 were still too short for the European planemaker to adapt its supply chain and would prevent it from expanding its British supplier base.
Airbus, which makes wings for all its passenger jets in Britain, said that leaving both the EU’s single market and customs union immediately and without any agreed transition would lead to “severe disruption and interruption” of production.
“Put simply, a no-deal scenario directly threatens Airbus’ future in the UK,” said Tom Williams, chief operating officer of Airbus Commercial Aircraft.
Two years on from the Brexit vote, businesses are starting to speak out over uncertainty about the trading and regulatory environment once Britain leaves the EU next March.
Echoing calls from Germany’s Siemens earlier this week, Airbus said it needed immediate details on how its operations would have to be organised.
LONG-TERM PLANNING
Airbus in total supports 100,000 jobs in Britain, with 14,000 people directly employed by the company, Williams said.
Airbus said it could not make decisions about new investment in Britain, including in its next generation of wings, without a clear Brexit deal.
“We have to come to the point where we have to make decisions, and quite often those decisions are long term in nature, and without clarity then it’s too dangerous for us to proceed,” Williams told BBC radio on Friday.
“When we look at the next generation of wings, which is called ‘Wing
