Steve Aiken OBE MLA, Ulster Unionist Finance spokesperson, has welcomed the announcement that Bombardier is forming a partnership with Airbus on the C Series project.
Steve Aiken OBE MLA said:
“The tie-up between Bombardier and Airbus on the C Series project is great news for Northern Ireland, great news for our manufacturing sector and most importantly great news for Bombardier`s workers in Belfast. The C Series is a technologically superior product to any equivalent on offer from its rival Boeing and the arrangement with Airbus makes for a potentially very exciting future. We could see new markets being opened up, over and above potential US sales.
“We should also be under no illusion that this is a shrewd business move by Airbus. Boeing will be very aware of that and I hope we don`t see a petulant response from them. Boeing have felt the need to use protectionist policies as a comfort blanket in the past, but ultimately everyone will be the loser in the long run from that policy. I hope we will now see some maturity replacing the stand-off which we have seen in recent weeks.”