The European aircraft manufacturer is increasing its share in the A220 program. However, Bombardier is giving more to Airbus.
The special sale at Bombardier continues. The Canadian group, founded in 1942, not only sells its rail business to its French competitor Alstom, as the newspaper Handelsblatt writes. It is also divesting its 34 percent stake in the Airbus Canada Limited Partnership, and thus the A220 program. Airbus announced this on Thursday (February 13).
The shares were bought by Airbus and the government of Québec, where Bombardier’s aviation business is located. The European aircraft manufacturer now holds 75 percent of the A220 program, the Canadian province 25 percent. So far, they owned 50 and 16 percent.
More than just A220
While the province of Québec pays nothing for its share, Airbus puts $ 591 million on the table. Bombardier will also be released from the obligation to make further investments in the A220 program.
The manufacturer not only gets more from the A220 range, but also production capacities for the aircraft and also the A330 in Saint-Laurent, Canada, which previously belonged to Bombardier itself. They will be integrated into the Airbus subsidiary Stelia Aerospace, which, with 7,100 employees in France, North America, Tunisia, Morocco and Portugal, produces fuselage parts and seats for cockpits as well as business and first class.
Later full takeover
At the same time, the time frame in which Airbus has full control over the A220 program was expanded. Now the manufacturer can take over the 25 percent share of the province of Québec in 2026 – three years later than originally planned. There are currently 658 orders for the plane.
The Airbus A220 was developed by Bombardier in 2004 as the C-Series. In 14 years, the group created a completely new family of aircraft. She impressed the competition and the entire industry with her performance figures. But the costs got out of hand and the Canadians could not keep to the schedule either.
Only business jets – but for how long?
That’s why they had to hand over power to Airbus in their C-Series program in 2018. It was an emergency sale and the beginning of the end of Bombardier’s aviation. Now only the business jets remain with the Canadians. According to press reports, however, they are also negotiating a sale there. Textron with its Beechcraft and Cessna brands is considered the most likely buyer.
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