§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when manufacture of the A400M will start in the UK; and how many jobs the programme is expected to(a) generate and (b) safeguard in the North West. [46206]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 25 March 2002]: Once the A400M contract is activated, I would anticipate that production of the aircraft would begin shortly thereafter.
Airbus UK has estimated that the A400M programme will directly create up to 2,500 high quality jobs—notably in design and advance manufacture. They have calculated that indirect employment could bring that figure to over 8,000. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister commented on 6 March 2002, Official Report, column 343W, "Airbus Military is free to select its own suppliers on grounds of performance and cost". It is therefore impossible to estimate how many jobs might be generated in the North West.