Bombardier to dispose off its Belfast business

In line with previous warnings of the consequences of a hard Brexit, Bombardier is looking to dispose its operations in Northern Ireland, where the Canadian Aerospace Group is on the biggest employers with a workforce of 3, 600.

During the restructuring their planned disposal includes operations in Morocco, alongside a wider restructuring of its aerospace business. The companies key capabilities should allow it to contintue to operate under different ownership without any job losses.

Alain Bellemare, Bombardier CEO said  the decision was a the next logical step in its five year turnround. Bombardier has been in Northern Ireland since 1980s when it bought Short Brothers one of the oldest names in aviation, the plant makes wings for what was previously called C-series jet, which was a cash drain on Bombardier.

The troubled C-series was bailed out by Airbus, which took  a controlling stake in the project in 2017 for C$1.