Airbus SE

Airbus SE began operations as a company on 10th July 2000 but its history began with a July 1967 agreement between ministers from France, Germany and Britain. This was signed ‘for the purpose of strengthening European co-operation in the field of aviation technology and thereby promoting economic and technological progress in Europe, to take appropriate measures for the joint development and production of an airbus’. It also aimed to prevent Europe falling behind America as there was a fear that European companies cold become simply subcontractors to American ones and European airlines would be dependent on the US for aircraft. Such a fear was partly based on the fact that at this time several companies were simultaneously developing their own designs for aircraft, none of which would sell enough to be viable if they were all produced. Therefore, a join program was formed to develop and produce a new aircraft that could capitalise on the boom in popular air travel, especially on short haul routes, under the A300 name. The development process would begin with the appointment of Roger Beteille as technical director of the program in July 1967 and the signing of a memorandum of agreement in September 1967, which established Sud-Aviation as the lead company.

Despite several issues prior to the launch of the A300 program in May 1969, including Rolls Royce being unable to develop the new engines required for the initial design, claims that a twin engine would not be space and Britain’s withdrawal in December 1968, it would continue and a consortium was formed on 18th December 1970. The ownership of the new consortium, known as Airbus industrie GIE, Groupement d’interet economique or Economic Interest Group, was split between Aerospatiale, which has absorbed Sub-Aviation, and Deutsche Airbus, which was a group including of Messerschmittwerke, Hamburger Flugzeubau, VFW GmBH and Siebelwerke ATG. This was adjusted in 1971 when CASA acquired a 4.2% share. The production for the group would be divided between its parent companies with France producing the cockpit, flight control and the lower centre section of the fuselage, West Germany producing the forward and rear fuselage sections, Dutch manufacturers produced the flaps and spoilers, Spain producing the horizontal tail plane and Hawker Siddeley, who remined a subcontractor despite the withdrawal of Britain, produced the wings.

The first test flight of the A300 occurred on 28th October 1972 and it entered service on 23rd May 1974. Despite the new design’s lower operating costs, which had become increasingly important due to the oil crisis, sales were initially slow, and an aggressive marketing approach was required. During 1978 an additional model was produced, the A310, which was smaller than the original A300.

In 1979 British Aerospace acquired a 20% in the Airbus consortium. As a result, Aerospatiale and Deutsche Airbus’ shares were reduced to 37.9% whilst CASA’s remined at 4.2%. BAe would also takeover responsibility for wing production after having absorbed Hawker Siddeley.

During the 1980s, as well as introducing the A320, A330 and A340 designs which shared a number of common features to allow for quick cross qualification, Airbus also introduced a number of technological advances. One of these was the forward facing crew cockpit which allowed aircraft to be operated without a flight engineer. The second was a computer drive digital ‘fly-by wire’ system which meant that the flying control surfaces were no longer controlled by the pilot’s controls but rather by a computer which calculated what was required to make the aircraft respond to the pilot’s wishes. This also replaced the control column with a sidestick control.

The 1990s would see additional designs being introduced by Airbus, the A321, A319, A340-200 and A318, which resulted in a range that went from short haul to ultra-long haul. Beyond this development work began on what was then known as the A3XX project which was aimed at producing a double decker aircraft capable of carrying 600 passengers on long distance routes. The consortium’s production had also continued to expand up to this point, with it receiving materials from 16 manufacturing sites across Europe and producing its 1,000th aircraft in 1994. As a result of this by 1998 Airbus had captured 50% of the airliner market.

Also, by the 1990s it had become accepted that if Airbus was to continue to expand its structure would have to be streamlined and placed on a conventional company footing. At the time the various companies involved in the consortium were acting both as suppliers and shareholders, and it was therefore hoped to create a single integrated company. This was done with the merger of Aerospatiale-Matra, which had been formed when Aerospatiale had been privatised and merged with Matra, Daimler Chrysler Aerospace and CASA to form the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. This took ownership of 80% of the new Airbus company, Airbus SAS, with the remaining 20% being held by BAE Systems. The new company began operations on 10th July 2000 and would be the 2nd largest aerospace company and Europe’s 2nd largest arms manufacturer. Also due to these mergers the new company would also become the sole owner of the Eurocopter Group, which it merged with the helicopter business of CASA.

Following Airbus’ reorganisation, it continued to expand with a new engineering centre being established in Wichita, a joint venture in Russia and its 3,000 aircraft, which was built in July 2002. The 19th December 2000 would also see the A3XX project being launched under the A380 name. On 16th June 2003 the company would become the sole owner of Astrium, the satellite manufacturer, which was renamed EADS Astrium with divisions relating to satellites, space transportation and services. 2004 would see further developments, as in May the A380 assembly line would open and in December the A350 was launched, while 2005 would see the first flight of the A380 and the establishment of a new engineering centre in Tianjin, China.

On 13th October 2006 EADS would become the sole owner of Airbus when BAE System sold its 20% share of the company. The same year would see the launch of the A350XWB, extra wide body, and in 2007 the first A380 was delivered. This year would also see the Power8 restructuring of the company which hoped to cut costs and change the business model. Soon after this, in 2009, the first Airbus aircraft constructed outside of Europe, an A320 produced at the Tianjin facility, made its first flight.

2010 saw Airbus produce its 6,000th aircraft and also announced a new engine option, neo, for its A319, A320 and A321 models. This would allow them to be delivered with newer, more fuel efficient engines. Following years would see the opening of the production facility for the A350XWB, 2012, and the first delivery of the A400M military transport, 2013.

In January 2014 there was a reorganisation when European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company was renamed Airbus Group NV. This new company was established with 3 divisions, Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters, which had previously been the Eurocopter Group. On 27th May 2015 the company was registered as an European Company, SE.

In 2017 a further reorganisation occurred when Airbus Group announced it would merge with its largest division, Airbus Commercial Aircraft, to form a single company, to be known as Airbus SE. The new structure of the company would see two subsidiaries, Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Space and Defence, and would come into force on 1st January 2017. The name was official changed at the annual meeting on 12st April 2017. The same year would also see a partnership with Bombardier Aerospace to produce the C series aircraft. This would be split 50% Airbus, 31% Bombardier and 19% was held by the Quebec government. A further partnership was also announced in November, this time with Rolls Royce and Siemens, which was aimed at producing the E-Fan X hybrid aircraft.

In 2018 Airbus acquired a majority stake in the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership which manufactured and sold Bombardier’s C series jets, the CS100 and CS300. With Bombardier’s withdrawal from the commercial aviation sector in February 2020 this became Airbus Canada Limited Partnership with ownership being split between Airbus, 75%, and the Government of Quebec, 25%. The C series aircraft were also renamed A220-100 and A220-300.