Airbus tipped for contract

The Airbus factory in north Wales is expected to be given a major new contract worth £13bn.

EADS, the company that owns 80% of Airbus, has clinched a deal to replace the RAF's refuelling aircraft.

According to media reports on Friday, Airbus has beaten a rival consortium, led by BAE and Boeing, to replace the RAF's refuelling aircraft.

The government programme will provide the RAF with an air refuelling and air transport service, replacing the existing fleet of ageing VC-10 and Tristar aircraft.

Airbus would develop and manufacture the wings for the A330-200 aircraft at their site at Broughton, as well as Filton near Bristol, for the consortium.

The 27-year contract would be a major breakthrough for Airbus, and should lead to a large increase in orders for its wing factory in Broughton in Flintshire, which already employs around 3,000 people.

The decision follows a report from the National Audit Office, which showed the Ministry of Defence overspent by more than £3bn last year, on its big weapons programme.

Most of that was caused by four delayed projects run by BAE Systems.

Parent company EADS is confident that beating BAE and Boeing will improve its chances of winning future contracts to supply air tankers to the American government.

Recent months have seen EADS prosper, and two weeks ago it was revealed that Airbus deliveries were outstripping rival Boeing,

In December, EADS announced it had signed a deal to sell six Airbus A380 super-jumbo planes to Malaysia Airlines for $1.6bn.

The deal is a coup for Airbus which had predicted its sales would overtake those of US rival Boeing in 2003.

The A380 planes are 555-seater long haul jets, which play a major role in Airbus' plans to challenge Boeing as the main supplier of long-haul jets.

Under the deal, EADS will sell the jets to Malaysia Airlines' parent firm, state-owned Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd (PMB), which will lease them to the airline.