Aircraft
Bombardier Eyes Next Steps for Spirit Belfast Plant
Reacquisition could be on the table
Challenger 650 Exterior Cloud and Mountain (Photo: Bombardier)
Among other things, Spirit Aerosystems' facility in Belfast, Ireland, produces center fuselages for the Challenger 650. © Bombardier

As Bombardier weighs the mergers and acquisitions space, the reacquisition of the Spirit AeroSystems facility in Belfast could be one of its next moves. Earlier this month, Spirit AeroSystems reached agreements with Boeing and Airbus to sell off the majority of its operations as it pertained to the OEM giants, but it also planned to seek buyers for certain facilities, including the Belfast plant that it had acquired from Bombardier in 2020.

The facility is critical for the Canadian airframer, producing center fuselages for the Challenger programs, forward fuselages for the Global 5500 and 6500, and horizontal stabilizers for all of the Globals (including the Global 7500), along with other key components such as engine nacelles.

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