Airbus welcomes more than 100 new apprentices in the UK
Leading aircraft manufacturer Airbus has welcomed more than 100 apprentices at its UK sites in Filton, Bristol and Broughton, North Wales – more than doubling the numbers taken on in previous years.
The new starters include craft apprentices, who are training to become qualified aircraft fitters, and undergraduate apprentices who will study for a bachelor’s degree while also gaining practical work experience within the business.
Airbus’ UK General Manager and human resources director Mark Stewart explained the increase in apprentice numbers for 2016.
“We’ve always been heavily committed to early careers schemes at Airbus in the UK, but the success of our aircraft programmes means that we will be ramping up production in the coming years and we’re preparing now for this future increase in output.
“At Filton we are working with the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) on a number of new and exciting future projects which will shape the way we fly in the years and decades to come, as well as further developing our existing products.
“Everyone starting their aerospace career today will have a role to play in what the future of flight looks like.”
Around 95 of the new starters will be based at Broughton where the wings for the entire range of Airbus family aircraft are assembled. Of these, 75 will be craft apprentices while a further 17 will be on the undergraduate programme and three join the Supply Chain Higher Apprenticeship programme.
A further 10 apprentices will start on the undergraduate programme in Filton, and will be working closely with a large team of engineers designing and developing wings, fuel systems and landing gear for aircraft.
Over the last five years alone Airbus has trained 500 external apprentices and a further 300 internal apprenticeships. Internal apprentices are existing employees that have an apprenticeship paid for by Airbus to help them develop an entirely new skillset.
