FIRST MINISTER Peter Robinson has described as “the most important investment in Northern Ireland for a generation” the decision by Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier to invest £500 million (€625 million) in its Northern Ireland operation for a new series of aircraft.
The investment, which Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said was won following joint lobbying by himself and Mr Robinson of British prime minister Gordon Brown, will sustain more than 800 jobs at Bombardier in east Belfast.
It is the biggest single investment by any company in Northern Ireland.
Bombardier in Belfast will manufacture the wings for the company’s new series of aircraft called the CSeries, described as “the greenest single-aisle aircraft in its class”.
The British government is providing funding of £52 million to the project in Belfast as part of a wider contribution of £155 million to Bombardier.
Bombardier announced the project yesterday at the Farnborough International Airshow in England. At the announcement were the DUP Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Industry Arlene Foster and Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward.
Bombardier said that German airline Lufthansa has signed a letter of interest for up to 60 CSeries aircraft at an approximate price of $46.7 million (€29.4 million) each. They are due to enter into service in 2013.
It added that “discussions with a number of established airlines worldwide are progressing well”.
The final assembly of the aircraft will be at Mirabel near Montreal in Canada. Its fuselage and cockpit will be manufactured at Bombardier Aerospace’s facility at Saint Laurent in Canada. Belfast will design and manufacture the wings.
Bombardier has major ambitions for the CSeries aircrafts which will carry between 110 and 130 passengers. It believes that there is a demand for 6,300 aircraft in the 100- to 149-seat commercial aircraft market over the next 20 years. This business, according to the company, is worth $250 billion and Bombardier “expects to be able to capture up to half of this market”.
“Today is a great day for Bombardier, our customers, our employees, our shareholders and our suppliers. I am proud to say that we have met our business plan objectives: a technologically advanced aircraft family, a strong pipeline of orders and repayable investments with governments and agreements with key suppliers,” said Pierre Beaudoin, president and chief executive of Bombardier.
Nico Buchholz, senior vice president of Lufthansa’s corporate fleet, said the airline was proud to be part of the launch.
Mr Robinson said the investment was an enormous boost for Northern Ireland in general and east Belfast in particular. He said many of the 800 jobs would be new jobs.
“It is impossible to underestimate the importance of such an investment . . . and given the nature of the lengthy negotiations and the present economic climate, I have absolutely no doubt that but for devolution this deal would have been lost,” he said.
“This investment not only delivers jobs to Northern Ireland, but crucially does so in a high-skill, high-value-added sector. It will give a boost to the whole of Northern Ireland.” Mr McGuinness said he and Mr Robinson lobbied Mr Brown to help secure the investment. As well as sustaining jobs at Bombardier Belfast, he hoped it would generate “further jobs in the supply chain”.
