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Dubai Aerospace eyeing Airbus factories

Any move by the group to invest in the European plants would deepen existing links between Dubai and the European aerospace industry and be another example of aggressive overseas expansion by companies based in the Gulf emirate

A Dubai state investment fund bought a 3.12-percent stake in Airbus parent company EADS earlier this year and Dubai-based airline Emirates is the biggest single customer for Airbus’s new star product, the A380 superjumbo airliner.

In an interview with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, DAE chief executive Bob Johnson said the Airbus plants were “interesting for us” and that the group wanted to “buy into and develop itself” in plane production.

Under a radical restructuring plan announced earlier this year, Airbus said it would sell outright or spin off six factories in France, Germany and Britain, with a seventh likely to be added to the list.

The group plans to reveal the buyers of the factories at the end of next month, with four in Germany, two in France and one in Britain currently facing a future under unknown ownership.

German engineering group Voith is reported to be interested in taking over some of the German plants.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise was founded last year and is jointly owned by the state and investment companies based in Dubai.

Any acquisition of Airbus factories would have to overcome intense political scrutiny, with Airbus considered a strategic company by the French and German governments, which jointly control the group.

Airbus parent group EADS is piloted by a pact of public and private shareholders. The private shareholders have close political links to the states.

Airbus plans to sell the factories either outright or partially to companies that will become strategic partners for the group.

The plans are part of its “Power8” cost-cutting initiative, which aims to trim costs by 30 percent and cut 10,000 jobs by 2010.

Over the coming years, DAE plans to invest about 15 billion dollars (11 billion euros) to establish its business, the newspaper said.

“We want to do everything related to aviation,” said Johnson in the interview.

The group is bidding for up to 60 percent of the company that runs Auckland International Airport, New Zealand’s largest air hub, and is also interested in London’s Gatwick airport.

Earlier this month, the group bought two airline service providers, Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation, from US-based investment group Carlyle Group at a cost of 1.9 billion dollars.