Airbus spends $300m on new Alabama plant for A220 jet

Airbus expanded its industrial presence in the US on Wednesday, starting construction on a new assembly plant for the Canadian developed A220 jetliner, 18 months after agreeing to buy the plane in the midst of a US-Ottawa trade dispute. The European planemaker said it would invest $300m and create 400 jobs in the plant, to be built in the port of Mobile alongside an existing assembly line for its best-selling A320 passenger jet, which already employs 700 people. Alabama and the city of Mobile would provide a total of some $26m in state and municipal incentives to support the development, officials said. CE Tom Enders hailed a “day of pride” for Airbus at a ceremony peppered with patriotic US references and highlighting other investments in helicopters and satellites. There has been an increase in aerospace investment in the southeastern United States, where US rival Boeing has a plant assembling long-haul 787 Dreamliners in South Carolina. Airbus plans to use the Mobile site to assemble the 110-130-seat A220 for US airlines, which have ordered 250 of the planes including 135 since Airbus took control last July.<br/>