Quebec delay exit from A220 partnership, after it invested to boost production

Each side will invest proportionally to its share in the Airbus Canada partnership building the A220. The government holds 75%, while the airframer has 75%.

Airbus will be able to extend the deadline for buying out the government shareholding in the partnership because of the funding from the federal government through Investissement Quebec.

This would have occurred initially in 2026, but it will now be delayed up to four years.

This will allow Airbus Canada to "create more value" for the A220 program, according to the government.

The A220 had 475 aircraft in its backlog at the end of 2021. Quebec's government claims that the A220's strong order book is what drove the investment. This will "support the acceleration of production."

The injection will allow the program to mature, maintaining the equivalent of 2,500 jobs in aeronauticals in the province, and allowing for the creation of new jobs.

Airbus acquired the A220 programme in mid-2018. It is currently running at a loss and the airframer stated previously that production must increase in order to be profitable in the middle of the next decade.

If production rates increase in line with plan, the partnership could employ 3,000 people by 2025.

The government claims that Airbus has provided assurances about jobs and production to ensure that Quebec's economy is thriving.

Pierre Fitzgibbon, regional economic development minister, says that "we obtain longer-term engagements and we have better chances of recovering our initial investment of $1 billion."

Guillaume Faury, chief executive of Airbus, stated that the company will continue to invest as the majority shareholder in the partnership to increase production rates and "ensure success for the program in the middle decade".