The chief executive of European planemaker Airbus has called for compromise in Brexit talks and in the transatlantic aircraft subsidies and tariffs dispute, both of which cast a shadow over the company's future.
Guillaume Faury at Berlin Aviation Summit 2020
Guillaume Faury at Berlin Aviation Summit 2020. Photo: Twitter
Guillaume Faury told the Conference of Montreal that Airbus - which has manufacturing facilities on both sides of the North Sea - was preparing for some disruption should the UK leave the EU without a deal, though downplayed the warnings of severe upheaval.
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“It would really be a pity that after so many years of preparation there is no deal at the end. I think it would be much better for the EU and the UK to have an orderly Brexit,” said Faury.
“This being said, if there is no deal we will have to live with it. There will be a more difficult transition on December 31 and we are preparing ourselves for some logistical issues, but we don’t think this is going to be unmanageable,” he added.
His comments come amid warnings from many sectors of industry, with Make UK, which represents British manufacturing, which said it could be a possible "knockout blow" if London and Brussels are unable to reach a deal before the end of the transition period on Dec 31.
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Faury also made calls for compromise in the long-running transatlantic dispute over aircraft subsidies in which both the US and EU have imposed tariffs on various goods.
“We are calling for a de-escalation ... and finding a long-term agreement between the US and the EU, and we think this is what will happen,” Faury told the conference.
“And it will happen under the Biden administration, but I think it would have happened anyway,” he added.
Diplomats have said the outgoing Trump administration is holding "serious" negotiations with the EU to put an end to the 16-year-old dispute, which has come to a head just as the UK is leaving the EU.
Read more: $4bn EU tariffs on US products to come into effect
Last week, when the UK ended tariffs on goods imported from the US that were adopted in support of Airbus.
Industry sources are saying the UK's decision to drop tariffs - in contradiction to earlier signals it had given on the matter - has sparked the worst cross-Channel aerospace rift in decades, shattering the unity among Airbus backers in France, Germany, Spain and the UK.
Faury reiterated that Airbus would leave the current wings production in Britain but would decide the level of investment in the country for future programmes based on UK competitiveness in the post-Brexit era.
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