Superjumbo orders take-off

The A3XX means job security for Broughton workers

The new Airbus "superjumbo" airliner is ready for take-off after a major order from the Australian airline Qantas.

The new plane - code-named the A3XX - will eventually create 1,300 new jobs at the BAE Systems plant at Broughton in Flintshire.

Qantas has ordered 12 of the new super jumbos, taking the order book for A3XX to 44 planes.

That is enough, it is thought, for Airbus to give the formal go ahead for the plane within the next few weeks.

In anticipation of the extra work, Broughton is already recruiting the first of more than 1,000 extra workers.

The wing assembly work is essential to Broughton

The A3XX will be the biggest commercial airliner ever, with a capacity of over 500 passengers and it is expected to be flying by 2004.

Qantas has also ordered 13 smaller Airbus A330s as part of its £3bn deal, which is seen as another for boost for Broughton.

The Flintshire factory has made the wings for every version of the highly successful European airliner.

Earlier this year, First Minister Rhodri Morgan gave the go ahead for a £19.5m grant to the builders of the new A3XX Superjumbo.

The wings of the new aircraft will be built at the BAE Systems factory at Broughton in Flintshire after Mr Morgan reversed his decision not to give the project a grant.

Mr Morgan said the £19.5m would be channelled through the Welsh Development Agency and Celtec, the local training and enterprise council.

It will be used for training workers in the highly-skilled task of building the wings.

Mr Morgan said the investment was of "vital strategic importance" to the region's economy.

"The aerospace industry is one of our real growth industries," said Mr Morgan.

Ray Wilson, managing director of BAE Systems Airbus UK, said the Broughton factory was guaranteed to play a "full part" in the A3XX programme.

The factory employs around 3,000 workers building wings for current Airbus models.