Airbus to cut up to 2,500 jobs in defence and space

Airbus plans to cut up to 2,500 posts in its Defence & Space division after spiralling losses on satellite projects, sources said on Wednesday.

The European planemaker aims to implement the cuts, which represent seven per cent of its workforce in the Defence & Space unit, by the middle of 2026, they said, asking not to be identified on measures that have not yet been publicly announced.

Airbus declined to comment.

Airbus builds satellites, transport planes and has key shares in European missile, fighter and space launch programmes.

Its business has been hit by heavy charges in space systems, including OneSat, and delays and rising costs in defence.

The job cuts, first reported by French news agency AFP, follow a longstanding efficiency review in the defence and space business, code-named ATOM.

Airbus has also been drawing up a specific turnaround plan for its struggling Space Systems business, without waiting for the outcome of recent satellite consolidation talks that include Italy's Leonardo as well as France's Thales.

But the job cuts will not be confined purely to the space business, which has had 1.5 billion euros (AED 6 billion) in charges in recent quarters, the sources said.

Reuters reported in July that Airbus had launched an urgent cash containment plan across the wider Defence and Space unit, where managers have declared the cost situation "critical".

CEO Guillaume Faury told reporters earlier this year that Airbus was looking at opportunities to create scale in defence, space and particularly satellites where traditional players have been heavily disrupted by the success of new constellations.