More than 200 jobs at risk at airline interior firm

More than 230 out of the 471 workers at the manufacturer of fixtures for aircraft interiors are on the list at risk of redundancy. 

One at-risk employee told the Echo that “most of the staff at Bournemouth are being made redundant”, claiming “around 200” will be out of the door.

Read more: Redundancies expected at Chinese-owned airline manufacturer 

He added: “Most of the business here is going to Cambridge and a lot has already gone to China.” 

In a letter handed to employees at risk of redundancy and seen by the Echo, chief financial officer Mark Stoddart said a “forecasted reduction in workload” and “large site running costs” were to blame for job losses. 

A spokesperson for AVIC Cabin Systems said: “There are 471 people employed by ACS UK and 232 are ‘at risk’.  

“Being at risk does not mean that an employee has been selected for redundancy. It means that they will be part of the redundancy consultation, which will look at various mitigating options to avoid redundancies wherever possible.  

“The consultation process will last a minimum of 45 days and no decisions will be made until the process has been completed.” 

AVIC Cabin Systems is based at Bournemouth Aviation Business Park (Image: Stephen Bath)

It’s also expected the Chinese-owned company could be closing its Aviation Business Park site in the near future. 

The letter added that in two years' time, the Hurn-based factory will “cease manufacturing whilst engineering and support functions will be relocated to smaller premises nearby”. 

AVIC Cabin Systems has other bases in Cambridge and Auckland, New Zealand. The former has been “strengthened” and in New Zealand nothing has changed, according to the letter.  

It’s not clear how many people AVIC Cabin Systems is expecting to make redundant. The Echo has asked the company for a number.  

AVIC Cabin Systems bought out its sister company Aim Altitude for £2m recently after administrators were called in during the summer of 2022.  

Aim Altitude UK Ltd and its parent company Aim Altitude Ltd posted a loss of £162million loss in 2020 and a £39.4m loss the year before. 

The sale led to some MPs at the time, including former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, calling on the government to review the involvement of the Chinese government in the companies. 

Aim Altitude was bought for £155million in 2016 by AVIC Aerospace International Corporation, which is controlled by the Chinese state.