Factbox-Spirit Aero's plants in focus as Boeing, Airbus near deal to carve up supplier

(Reuters) - European planemaker Airbus is poised to take over all or part of the operations of four Spirit AeroSystems plants as part of an impending deal involving rival Boeing, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources.

The two main plants involved in the transfer to Airbus are Kinston, North Carolina, where Spirit makes a crucial part of the A350 fuselage known as Section 15, and a plant in Northern Ireland that makes carbon wings for the A220.

Spirit was spun off from Boeing in 2005 and has since become a supplier to Airbus. The European planemaker now accounts for roughly one-fifth of Spirit's revenue, with Boeing making up the majority.

Here are details of Spirit's key plants that supply to commercial and business aircraft programs:

LOCATION COMPONENT MANUFACTURED APPROXIMATE

NUMBER OF

EMPLOYEES

Wichita, USA - Fuselage, pylon, wing leading 12,590

edges, thrust reverser and engine

nacelle of Boeing 737 built in

Wichita, Kansas, where Spirit has

its headquarters. Area spans 150

buildings covering 12.7 mln sq ft.

- Composite forward fuselage and

engine pylons for Boeing 787

Dreamliner also built in Wichita.

Tulsa, USA - Wing fixed leading edge and wing 1,110

movable leading edge for Boeing 787

Dreamliner built in Tulsa,

Oklahoma, and Subang, Malaysia.

- Tulsa facility consists of 1.7

mln square feet of building space

set on 147 acres.

Kinston, USA - Central section panels of Airbus 590

A350 built in Kinston, North

Carolina.

Belfast, - Design and manufacture of 3,400

Northern advanced composite wings for Airbus

Ireland A220 commercial jet family.

- Manufacture of center fuselage of

Bombardier Challenger 350 business

jet and Bombardier Challenger 650

business jet.

- Manufacture of forward fuselage

and other components for

Bombardier Global 5500 and 6500

business jets.

- Manufacture of composite

horizontal stabilizer for

Bombardier Global 7500 business

jet.

Casablanca, - Casablanca site assembles 220

Morocco emergency doors for Bombardier

Challenger 350 business jet.

- Assembles floors of Bombardier

Global 5500 and 6500 business jets.

- Casablanca site is set on 7 acres

and totals 312,000 sq ft with

access to Moroccan aeronautical

hub.

Prestwick, - Company builds wing leading and 1,120

Scotland trailing edge elements of all

Airbus A320 family of aircraft at

Prestwick plant.

- Prestwick facility consists of

988,000 sq ft of building space set

on 93 acres.

Saint-Nazaire - After central section panels of 135

, France Airbus A350 are built in Kinston,

they are incorporated into the

fuselage in Saint-Nazaire and

transported to Airbus.

- Saint-Nazaire facility set on 9

acres and totals 75,000 sq ft.

Subang, - Wing fixed leading edge and wing 1,000

Malaysia movable leading edge for Boeing 787

Dreamliner built in Tulsa,

Oklahoma, and Subang, Malaysia.

- The 411,000 sq ft Subang facility

is 34% owned by Spirit and set on

45 leased acres.

Source - Company website, SEC filings

(Compiled by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta)