Aircraft deal may help secure North jobs

Bombardier Aerospace has won its first order for five new multi-million pound intercontinental business jets that will create work and sustain employment at the Canadian group's Belfast facility.

TAG Aeronautics, a Middle East-based aircraft distributor, has placed an order for five new Global 5000 aircraft with Bombardier. Its Belfast division will play a major role in the design and manufacture of components for the business jet, due to come into service in 2003.

Although the order will boost production levels at Bombardier's Northern Ireland operation, it will not alter the firm's plans to axe 900 jobs by the end of January. But the Canadian aerospace giant is hoping to secure substantial industry support from the British government that could remove the threat of redundancy hanging over more than 1,000 jobs at its Belfast plant.

The aerospace company is in talks with trade unions and government officials about the potential for a package of emergency funding for the industry that could alleviate some of the pressure on jobs in Northern Ireland.

Mr Alec McRitchie, Bombardier's director of communications for Europe, said the Canadian group was investigating a number of options to help secure jobs at the Belfast factory. He said the company hoped its talks with the British government would play a major role in the firm's future.

Bombardier employs over 7,300 people at Shorts, its Belfast-based aerospace division. Some trade union leaders fear the Bombardier jobs could become lost in the myriad problems besieging the overall UK aerospace sector.