European planemaker employs more than 6,000 people at its Deeside wing-making plant and Airbus bosses insists a tariff-free relationship with Europe is crucial to its future in Britain. Tony McDonough reports

Planemaker Airbus, which employs more than 6,000 people in Deeside, says Brexit could throw its long-term future in the UK into doubt.

A report in the Sunday Times says the Brexit deal must allow Airbus staff from all over the world to enter Britain easily and ensure it can ensure that parts can be moved in and out of the country without tariffs.

Prime Minister Theresa May is due to begin Brexit negotiations next week and has previously said that “no deal would be better than a bad deal”.

Such inflammatory talk has alarmed a number of large businesses who rely on access to the single market and benefit from the free movement of labour.

The plant at Broughton, which employs many people in Merseyside, currently makes wings for the best-selling A320 and A380 models.

Its likely that work would remain the UK but Fabrice Bregier, chief operating officer of Airbus, says the next generation of models could be produced elsewhere if an acceptable Brexit deal isn’t agreed.

He explained: “For new productions, it’s very easy to have a new plant somewhere in the world.

We would have plenty of offers to do that. We want to stay in the UK — provided the conditions to work in an integrated organisation are met.”

A few days ago Airbus chief executive Tom Enders warned that a “hard Brexit”, where trade tariffs between the UK and European Union were imposed, could potentially impact the competitiveness of the firm’s activities in Britain.