This Wednesday, may 29,, the sky from toulouse, will be in the colors of Airbus. All commercial aircraft manufacturer, the A320, the Beluga XL, passing by the A380, the A350, the A330 and the A320 will fly, beneath the gaze of some 20,000 employees. Of what to celebrate 50 years of the european champion aerospace, eventful history.

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Airbus, first, it is the result of a political will. At the end of the Second world War, the United States largely dominate the aviation industry. Anxious to gain their independence in a market in full growth, France and Germany signed at the paris air show 1969 a cooperation agreement for the construction of the first aircraft, the A300.

difficult Beginnings in the 1970s

The beginnings are difficult, the A300 has not managed to exceed the cap of 16 commands. The plane is denigrated in the United States where no one wants them. The salvation will come from the astronaut Frank Borman, who nudged the stars during the mission of Apollo 8. To become president of the u.s. airline Eastern Airlines, he trusted to Airbus in 1978.

therefore, the survival of the european manufacturer is no longer threatened. On the contrary, it enriches its range. Presented to the public in Toulouse in February 1987 in the large pump - it is up to the Prince Charles and Lady Diana of the baptized in the champagne , the A320 family has racked up orders and anchor Airbus as a major player in the aeronautical industry.

However, in the 90's, Airbus is again in difficulties in the face of new american giants from mergers wanted by Washington (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman, and Raytheon). Salvation will come, this time, private players, with the front positions, Jean-Luc Lagardère, the boss of Matra, and the German Jürgen Schrempp, the boss of DaimlerChrysler, which had established a compromise in April 1999. Accepted by the governments of Jospin and Schröder, it gives birth to the company EADS, which is celebrated with great pomp in Strasbourg in October 1999.

A business almost like any other

In 2005, the year of the official introduction of the super jumbo A380, Airbus managed to dethrone Boeing . The program of the A380 has been in particular a strong instrument for soldering the different components of the european manufacturer. And despite its semi-commercial failure, which led to the recent decision to stop its production.

In 2008, Airbus opened in China an assembly line, the group's first outside of Europe. The Middle kingdom is a key market for the aviation industry. A site assembly will be inaugurated in the United States in 2015.

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In the fall of 2012, the price of a compromise negotiated by the management and the French government (with a certain Emmanuel Macron to the maneuver at the Elysée palace) and German, Airbus is standardizing its governance: the States are still shareholders, but without special rights.

Airbus is now a giant globalized, the european roots, which employs 140 different nationalities and has a wide range of aircraft. The constructor must be projected in the next twenty years and prepare for the aircraft of the future. This, in a world where everything goes faster and where new competitors are emerging in China and often at the heart of the Silicon Valley.

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Visit of Xi Jinping : China command 300 Airbus for close to 30 billion euros - to Watch on Figaro Live

Date Of Update: 31 May 2019, 00:00