Emirates Airline is launching a major nationwide advertising campaign highlighting the carrier’s on-going investment and job-creation in the UK that is supported through its orders for the Airbus A380, A330 and A350 aircraft.
"With our new campaign, Emirates highlights its long-term commitment to the UK market, which as a result of the A380 programme alone has resulted in the creation of 13,000 jobs in the UK," according to Laurie Berryman, Emirates’ Vice President UK and Ireland. "This growing investment is benefiting not only local communities but the entire country as well."
More than 300,000 people are employed globally on the A380, A330 and A350 programmes, both directly and indirectly and throughout the supply chain.
The airline, which has one of the youngest fleets in the world, has ordered 90 A380s – far more than any other airline – which represents around 40% of the total A380 order book. In addition, the company has 70 A350s on order, which will see continued job growth throughout the supply chain for production of the additional aircraft.
The campaign comes as an Oxford Economics report highlights Emirates’ contribution to economies around the world. The report estimates that the UK economy would lose over US$800 million annually without the connectivity benefits Emirates provides with its flights from six UK airports to Dubai and an onward network spanning six continents. It also estimates that Emirates’ routes to the UK contribute over US$400 million annually to the British tourism industry.
Emirates already has 15 A380s in service with a further 75 to be delivered between now and 2018. The Emirates “superjumbo” operates twice daily from Heathrow and daily from Manchester, and serves other major world cities such as New York, Sydney, Dubai, Bangkok, Paris and Beijing.
In addition to directly employing 22,000 people at Airbus in the UK, the A380, A350 and A330 programmes support jobs at more than 400 UK companies. They include:
AIM Aviation in Bournemouth and Cambridge produces the Onboard Lounge for First and Business Class customers, and the First Class Social Area, which are unique to the Emirates’ A380. Over 60 of the company's employees are dedicated to making these units for Emirates, and AIM has grown substantially since it started working with Emirates in 2003.
Goodrich and its subcontractors directly employ around 55 people on the A380 across several UK locations. The main focus is in Wolverhampton where the flight control actuation systems are designed and manufactured and at Pitstone Green in Buckinghamshire, where it produces the A380 electrical power generation and control equipment (this is supplied to Airbus through Aerolec - a Goodrich and Thales joint venture company). Goodrich also produces flight control actuators and APU electrical power generators for the Airbus A330/A340 and is currently developing an innovative electric thrust reverser actuation system for the Airbus A350, this involves 45 high quality engineers employed across the two facilities.
One of Goodrich’s sub-contractors is Tekdata based in Stoke-on-Trent. The company, which also makes wiring for many space craft, has brought space-age technology to the A380 by manufacturing wiring harnesses for some of the flight control systems. The development work on the prototype harnesses supported 20 jobs at the company and has helped Tekdata continue growing throughout the recession.
Emirates itself employs over 650 people in the UK to support its 105 flights every week from six airports, and its growing call centre based near Manchester. A further 1500 Britons work for the airline at its Dubai headquarters in a variety of roles including management, pilots and cabin crew.
The campaign commences today with advertisements running across UK TV channels. The advertisement, which was filmed using a life-size model of an A380, and information about how it was made, can be seen here: www.youtube.com/user/EmiratesExperience#p/u/0/lAk6yzvqz0w