Airbus-owner EADS is axing 5,800 jobs in its defence and space arms, including about 450 in Britain, and closing its Paris headquarters as it refocuses the group on its soaring commercial aircraft business.
The job cuts at the pan-European aerospace and defence giant, which employs more than 140,000 people, follow July’s decision to merge its Cassidian defence arm and Astrium satellite operation into a single business unit and rebrand the entire group Airbus.
The restructuring is the response of EADS chief executive Tom Enders to defence spending cuts and the failure of last year's attempt to create a balanced aerospace and defence group via a £30bn tie-up with BAE Systems
After that deal was kyboshed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Enders turned to Plan B – the refocusing of the group on its flagship Airbus brand, which contributed more than two-thirds of last year’s €56.5bn (£47.3bn) sales. The group will be renamed Airbus from next year.
“We need to improve our competitiveness in defence and space – and we need to do it now," said Mr Enders. “With our traditional markets down, we urgently need to improve access to international customers, to growth markets.”