Industry Bombardier fully exits Airbus A220 program

Airbus, the Government of Québec and Bombardier Inc. have agreed upon a new ownership structure of the A220 program. Bombardier has transferred its remaining interest in Airbus Canada Limited Partnership to Airbus and the Government. The transaction is effective immediately.

This agreement sees Airbus´ stake to 75%, while the Government of Québec holds the remaining 25%. These 25% are redeemable by Airbus in 2026, three years later than before. As part of the transaction, Airbus has acquired the A220 and A330 work package production capabilities from Bombardier in Saint-Laurent, Québec.

"This agreement with Bombardier and the Government of Québec demonstrates our support and commitment to the A220 and Airbus in Canada. Furthermore, it extends our trustful partnership with the Government of Québec. This is good news for our customers and employees as well as for the Québec and Canadian aerospace industry,” said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury. "I would like to sincerely thank Bombardier for the strong collaboration during our partnership. We are committed to this fantastic aircraft programme and we are aligned with the Government of Québec in our ambition to bring long-term visibility to the Québec and Canadian aerospace industry.”

Bombardier will receive a consideration of $591 million from Airbus, net of adjustments of which $531 million was received at closing, while the remaining $60 million will be paid over this and next year.

This transaction marks the departure of Bombardier’s last big aircraft program. Last year, the manufacturer decided to see its Q-Series and CRJ Series. The Canadian company is in huge financial trouble, hence the sale of the remaining A220 stakes is no surprise.

After Bombardier got into financial trouble, Airbus decided to purchase the A220 program in 2018. Now, after several aircraft program sales, Bombardier is still not financially stable. Last month, the manufacturer had to announce that it only expects the half of the profits anticipated. Also, the train-business is not really working out at the moment.

Airbus on the other hand hopes to boost the capacity of the A220 production in the upcoming months and years, in order to achieve cost degression effects.