KAI Wins $1.2B Order from Airbus

South Korea's Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has won a $1.2 billion deal to produce wing parts for Airbus.

Under the agreement signed in France, KAI will be the exclusive producer of the wing bottom panels for the A320 passenger aircraft from 2014 to 2025.

KAI will supply the components for 500 A320s to be built each year, the deal may later be extended to 2030 at which point it will become worth more than $1.7 billion.

KAI, based in the southwestern city of Sacheon, has previously won orders to produce wing parts for the European firm's A350 and Boeing's B787 as well as for the A320.

The plan by Toulouse-based Airbus to shift some of its production from Wales to South Korea, first announced in January, drew fire from British unions which said the move would weaken Britain's aerospace industry.