There is a great deal going on in and around Prestwick Airport and, while much remains to be seen and it is important not to be complacent, there seems to be room for optimism.

European plane maker Airbus last week revealed it would acquire Spirit AeroSystems’ major manufacturing operation at Prestwick and take on the vast bulk of the workforce at this site. This is part of a global deal with Boeing, and follows the US plane maker’s agreement last year to buy Spirit.

The Spirit operation at Prestwick is a key part of the aerospace cluster in and around the airport.

And there had naturally been uncertainty in the wake of last summer’s announcement by Boeing of its acquisition of Spirit over what would happen to the latter’s manufacturing plant at Prestwick.

The deal announced on Monday last week is expected to result in around 1,150 of the approximately 1,200 employees of Spirit at Prestwick transferring to Airbus.

Airbus declared it would “assess its long-term strategy” for the Prestwick manufacturing site following the agreement with Boeing and Spirit to acquire this operation.

It was difficult to know exactly how to interpret this declaration.

However, there have been no signs in the days following the deal’s announcement of any particular fears over the future of the Spirit operation at Prestwick as a result of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and expected to be completed in the third quarter.

And you might expect worries to have been voiced if there was reason for concern at this stage over the Prestwick plant, given trade unions have highlighted fears over jobs at Spirit operations in Belfast that are also part of the Airbus deal.

Scottish Deputy First Minister

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