Typhoon continues to fly high

The economic importance of the Eurofighter Typhoon programme for Lancashire and the North West has been revealed in a new report.

More than 9,000 workers in the region are supported by the military jet programme, according to its authors.

They include Lancashire planemakers at BAE Systems plants in Warton and Samlesbury.

Employee wage spending contributed £210m to the region’s GDP, according to the report produced by Oxford Economics, which was unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show today.

It looks at the economic impact of the Typhoon to the UK economy over a five year period between 2018 and 2022.

And it comes just days after the UK government announced a £2.35bn upgrade of the aircraft.

The report, ‘Typhoon: Delivering Military and Economic Advantage’, also reveals that the aircraft contributed £1bn to UK net exports in 2020.

It says: “Typhoon is proven successful in the export market. Export sales have seen the UK’s investment of £12bn more than double the return to the UK economy, with the potential of more to come.”

Nationally Typhoon has contributed £1.6bn to the UK economy, supporting more than 20,000 jobs.

The report adds: “The North West of England is the engineering centre of excellence which powers the Typhoon programme.”

BAE Systems directly employs 4,800 workers in the region.

Andrea Thompson, BAE Systems managing director Europe and International, said: “The Typhoon programme continues to be a hugely successful programme and the best example of the UK’s world-leading combat air capability.”

She added: “From our manufacturing and integration base in the north of England, the impact of the programme reaches right across the United Kingdom, driving prosperity across the nation and supporting the critical ‘levelling up' agenda.”