PM hails Indonesian deal for 11 Airbus jets

Indonesia’s main airline yesterday signed a deal for 11 Airbus passenger jets during a visit by Prime Minister David Cameron aimed at boosting trade and investment.

The long-haul A330 jets are worth some £1.5 billion and will be powered by UK-supplied Rolls-Royce engines.

Cameron said: “This deal between Airbus and Garuda Indonesia Airlines is great news for the UK aerospace industry.

“I think we need to recognise that so much power in the world is going to be to the south and to the east and we need to rebuild those relationships.”

The new planes will increase by two-thirds the number of long-haul A330s already delivered to Garuda or on order from the airline. In February, its main domestic rival, Lion Air, signed a major deal with Boeing.

Some 10,000 jobs in the UK are linked to Airbus. Apart from the company’s sites near Bristol and Broughton, Rolls-Royce makes engines for the aircraft, and landing gear is also built in Britain.

The deal came on the latest leg of Cameron’s south-east Asia trade mission.