The Belfast-based aerospace company, Shorts, is to benefit from better-than-expected orders for the new CRJ Series 700 aircraft. Shorts provides components, mainly fuselages, for the aircraft and the 54 orders placed so far are worth more than £54 million sterling to the company.
The first forward and centre fuselages for the new aircraft left Belfast yesterday for Montreal, Canada where they will be used on the final assembly line. The aircraft is being built by Bombardier Aerospace, the third largest civil aircraft manufacturer, which owns Shorts.
The vice president and general manager of Bombardier Aerospace Shorts, Mr Ken Brundle said "already at this stage of the programme the CRJ 700 series is proving extremely popular in the market place".
At full production, 750 employees will work on the CRJ Series 700 in Northern Ireland. The 17.9 metre long fuselage which left Belfast yesterday is the largest aircraft component designed in Belfast since the early 1960s.
The first CRJ Series 700 aircraft is scheduled for roll-out and first flight in the second quarter of 1999 with certification and initial customer deliveries expected in early 2001. In addition to the CRJ Series 700, Shorts is currently involved in several other Bombardier aircraft programmes. These include the design and manufacture of the 50-seat CRJ regional jet series 100/ 200, the Learjet 45, the challenger business jet and the Bombardier global express ultra long range business jet.
At present, Bombardier Aerospace Shorts employs 6,500 people in Belfast with some 60 per cent of these now employed solely on Bombardier aircraft programmes.
Earlier this year rumours that Bombardier was to move significant design and research and development work out of Belfast, reportedly to its headquarters in Montreal led to a prolonged row and industrial action by 800 engineers.
The company says the success of the CRJ 700 series shows the company is able to produce high quality components efficiently. All the components provided for the aircraft from Shorts have come on time and within budget.
Two institutional shareholders in Powerscreen, the Northern Ireland engineering company, have announced that they have increased their stakes in the company. The Capital Group now has 3.9 per cent of the company's issued share capital while the Zurich group, parent to Eagle Star, now has a 3.05 per cent stake in the company after purchasing 2.8 million shares. Northern Ireland's political leaders are to embark on an 11-city tour of North America to promote investment opportunities in Northern Ireland.
