Airbus says its UK factories may not survive a disorderly Brexit

CEO Tom Enders issued the stark warning in a video released Thursday. He said a disorderly split would cause Airbus to redirect future investment and it could not guarantee that its existing factories would survive long term.

Airbus (EADSF) is headquartered in Toulouse, France, but has significant engineering and production facilities in the United Kingdom. One large production center in Wales makes the wings used on all Airbus civil aircraft. It has 14,000 employees in Britain and supports another 110,000 jobs through its supply chain.

"The UK's aerospace sector now stands at the precipice," Enders said. "If there is a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK."

"Make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there that would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft," Enders said in the video.

Airbus CEO Tom Enders said it was a "disgrace" that businesses still did not have clarity over Brexit.

The intervention by one of the largest manufacturers in the United Kingdom will heap pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to rule out a scenario where Britain leaves the European Union without an exit agreement in place. She's running out of time to win UK parliamentary support for a divorce deal she negotiated with EU leaders — Brexit is due to take place on March 29.

Enders said while Airbus couldn't immediately relocate its massive UK plants, consequences of a messy separation would be severe.

"Please don't listen to the Brexiteer's madness which asserts that because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here," he said in the video, which was posted to the company's YouTube channel. "They are wrong."

EU leaders and business chiefs are turning up the heat over Brexit

The nightmare scenario for companies in the United Kingdom is that the country crashes out of the European Union without a deal on Brexit. That would result in new trade barriers and higher costs for businesses.

Companies across the United Kingdom are clamoring for clarity on Brexit. Sony said Wednesay it would move its legal base in Europe from London to Amsterdam because of uncertainty over Brexit. Financial services firms are moving $1 trillion in assets out of the country, and carmakers fear for their future.

Sony Europe moves legal base out of UK because of Brexit

"Business simply cannot be prepared for [a disorderly Brexit] ... the damages to our economy would be so profound," Carolyn Fairbarn, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, told CNN on Wednesday.

Manufacturing companies are especially unnerved by the damage that snarled supply chains would cause.

"It is a disgrace that more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future," said Enders.

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