A daring vision takes flight: 25 years of Airbus as an integrated company

Twenty five years ago today, on 10 July 2000, the European aerospace and defence landscape was radically reshaped by the integration of the French, German and Spanish national aerospace champions into a single listed company. EADS, which has since been renamed Airbus, was the result of the trans-national merger of France’s Aerospatiale-Matra, Germany’s DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) and Spain’s Construcciones Aeronáuticas (CASA). It was listed simultaneously in three European countries, namely France, Germany and Spain. The UK was represented in the merger through its participation in the Airbus (20%) and Astrium (25%) business units, shares of which at the time were held by BAE Systems. In 2000, EADS employed around 90,000 people and had annual revenues of € 24 billion.

The logic behind integrating three of Europe’s largest aerospace companies was driven by a quest for industrial leadership and competitiveness in both the civil and defence segments. This would be achieved by leveraging cross-divisional opportunities and synergies, and by adopting the successful culture of collaboration and innovation demonstrated by the successes of Airbus’ commercial aircraft activities. Another important factor behind the consolidation was the progressive privatisation of semi-, or fully-owned state enterprises across Europe, which were not only limited to the aerospace industry.

At the time of integration, the EADS business units consisted of Airbus (commercial aircraft), Aeronautics (Eurocopter, ATR and Eurofighter), Defence and Civil Systems (MBDA and secured communicaitons), Space (Astrium and Arianespace) and Military Transport Aircraft. Over the course of the intervening 25 years the portfolio would continue to evolve in the pursuit of greater operational efficiency and streamlined governance. In 2001, Airbus, which until then was a consortium, became a fully owned subsidiary of its parent company. In 2003 and 2006 respectively, EADS acquired BAE Systems’ shares in Astrium and Airbus. 2014 would see major organisational developments: EADS was renamed Airbus Group and its Space, Defence and Military Transport Aircraft business units were merged into a single business unit which later became Airbus Defence and Space. At the same time, Eurocopter was renamed Airbus Helicopters. In 2017 an initiative for greater alignment & integration within the company was launched. This led to the corporate entity’s name, Airbus Group, being shortened to Airbus to symbolise the integration as one company.

Today Airbus is the largest aeronautics and space company in Europe, providing products, services and solutions for the commercial aircraft, helicopter, defence and space sectors. It employs over 150,000 people worldwide at more than 180 sites and recorded revenues of € 69 billion in 2024.

With a culture rooted in its diversity and pioneering spirit, Airbus looks back on its history with pride, knowing that its many innovations, and the men and women that created them, played a key role in shaping the aerospace and defence leader it is today. We take inspiration from our predecessors who date back to the dawn of aviation in Europe, and look to the future with enthusiasm, committed to leading our industry’s transition towards sustainable aerospace. Acknowledging that we serve the citizens of our planet as our privilege. The story continues…