Bombardier plans to expand Belfast plant by 60%

Bombardier is the largest high-tech manufacturer in Northern Ireland, employing over 3,600 people including 1,000 working on the A220 (formerly the C Series before Airbus took a majority stake).

The extension would increase the facility by around 60%, according to the Belfast Telegraph. The plans include a 20,800m² expansion to the east of the site and an extension of its wing assembly by 4,500m².

The facility manufactures the wings and fuselage components, and is currently on sale after Bombardier announced in its Q1 financial results it will pursue the sale of its aerostructures business.

The decision to sell the Belfast facility is part of a plan to combine Bombardier‘s corporate and regional jet units into a single aviation unit and shed more non-core assets, including its Belfast and Morocco aerostructures businesses.

Located close to the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, the plant in Northern Ireland is by far the most important manufacturer left in its capital city, once one of the key industrial centres of the British empire.

Bombardier www.bombardier.com