afrol News, 9 September - European plane manufacturer, Airbus is planning to open a parts factory in Tunisia, as part of a restructuring plan to cut cost, EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois, said today. The restructuring is set to save the company US$1.4billion, Airbus chiefs have said.

"Airbus will take up the Latécoère project of setting up a plant in Tunisia in order to manufacture standard parts," Mr Gallois told French daily Le Monde today, saying Airbus' production should increase by 50 percent between 2007 and 2011.

The Tunisian plant marks EADS' first venture outside the euro zone aimed primarily at containing costs.

According to Mr Gallois the weak dollar has forced EADS to expand its original savings plan. Franco-German EADS is vulnerable to the weakness of US currency because most of its products are paid for in dollars while most of its expenses are paid in euros.

In July, EADS announced it would ask all of its units to play their part in shouldering the burden of the weak dollar. Airbus will have to deliver a US$918.6 million slice of cost savings under the updated Power8 Plus plan.

Under the original Power8 plan the firm had hoped to save 5bn Euros between 2007 and 2010 by slashing 10,000 jobs and selling plants after delays to its A380 superjumbo drove the plane maker into a loss last year.

In a statement Airbus chief Tom Enders added that further measures were needed to improve the firm's cost base, efficiency and competitiveness.

"By pushing forward with internationalisation we secure growth, we take advantage of lower cost structures, we access talent on a world-wide basis and, simultaneously, support employment and core competences in Europe," he added.

Mr Gallois vowed that there would be no further job losses in France or Germany after huge job cuts announced last year.

EADS is vulnerable to dollar weakness because nearly all its revenue is denominated in dollars, but only half its costs are. A swing of just one cent in the exchange rate means a difference of US$100 million in operating income.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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