nearly 900 roles for A321 demand

Airbus is increasing its workforce at Broughton in Flintshire by nearly 900, or 15 per cent, as it expands wing production to meet a backlog of nearly 5,500 orders for its A321 single-aisle jet.

The company is announcing today that it is taking on 430 workers in addition to the 6,000 already employed at the Broughton complex, its global hub for wing production. Airbus has confirmed that it expects to take on a similar number or more next year.

It will also put an extra £150m into the site to repurpose the West Factory, which was left empty in 2020 when Airbus stopped building wings for the double-decker A380 superjumbo. The building has been used as a warehouse since then.

Former A380 plant to build A321 wings

The West Factory will be retooled to build wings for the A321, the stretch version of the single-aisle family, which can carry 240 passengers.

In its XLR, or extra long range, version, the A321 can fly from the UK to the east coast of the United States and to the superhubs of the Gulf states. It is the aircraft most in demand with airlines, and Airbus has a backlog of nearly 5,500 of the planes to fulfil.

Jerome Blandin, head of Airbus Wing, said the repurposing of the old A380 production plant is “a fundamental part, the finishing touch” of plans for Airbus to make more than 1,000 aircraft a year before the end of the decade.

“This is the busiest Broughton will ever have been. We have been challenged to deliver more and faster,” Blandin said.

The site has faced pressure on its workforce before. Last year Unite members at the plant planned a 10-day walkout over pay, which Business Matters reported could disrupt Airbus assembly lines in Europe, China and the US because the plant makes wings for all its commercial aircraft.

Delivery targets

The hiring comes as Airbus tries to lift output that slowed during the pandemic and the supply chain dislocations that followed.

The company delivered 793 aircraft in 2025 and, as chief executive Guillaume Faury told its annual press conference, aims for around 870 commercial aircraft deliveries in 2026. That would only return it to about where it was before the pandemic, when it delivered 863 aircraft in 2019.

In the first eight months of this year Airbus delivered 475 aircraft. That means its final assembly lines, mainly in Toulouse in France, will have to average around 100 aircraft a month for the rest of the year to reach the target.

The expansion also widens the gap with its American rival, Boeing, which has a delivery target of 670 aircraft for the year.

Wider UK footprint

Broughton is one of several UK sites where Airbus designs and builds wings and fuselage components. According to Airbus, the site has received more than £2bn of investment over the past decade. The company’s UK presence is set to grow further after it agreed to take on around 3,000 staff in Belfast and Prestwick as part of Boeing’s deal for Spirit AeroSystems, which Business Matters reported would take its total UK headcount to about 14,000.

About the author

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk

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