The role of local aeronautical apprentices has been praised.

During a visit to Bombardier Aerospace, the Stormont Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey was updated on the progress of the company's new CSeries aircraft programme, for which Belfast is designing and manufacturing the wing.

He was shown the demonstrator wing the company has assembled in order to test the new advanced composites technology it is applying, and met some of the apprentices working on the wing programme.

Bombardier Aerospace has been contracted as the sole supplier of Aeronautical Engineering Apprenticeship training. The company has around 160 apprentices at various levels of training and is currently recruiting for its new intake in September.

The Minister said: "I am pleased to see the role that apprentices are playing in such a major local engineering project. The apprentices in Bombardier are receiving valuable work experience on top of their qualifications.

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"Apprentices play a vital role in ensuring that we have a better skilled workforce in Northern Ireland, which, in turn, leads to a more robust economy. This is essential in ensuring that we can make the most of the economic recovery when it comes."

The CSeries aircraft wing programme represents a £520million investment by Bombardier. It is the largest ever single inward investment in Northern Ireland. It will develop the Belfast operation’s capabilities and skills, generating around 800 jobs during peak production years and thousands more in the wider supply chain.

Sir Reg added: "The new CSeries factory, that is currently under construction, will be a highly impressive facility and demonstrates how Northern Ireland can attract significant investment from major companies in the engineering and manufacturing industry.

"Our skilled workforce and highly trained apprentices undoubtedly provide an additional incentive to industry considering locating or investing in Northern Ireland."

Michael Ryan, Vice-President and General Manager, Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast, added: "It's important that we continue to build and grow our skills base, and our apprentice programme is one of the most important investments we can make. We need to ensure that world-class skills in aerospace design and manufacturing are developed and maintained in Northern Ireland for the benefit of our company, our employees and the wider economy.

"The CSeries aircraft wing programme is a huge opportunity for us to further develop our skills and capabilities, placing us in a strong position to compete in an extremely challenging global market place."

(NS/BMcC)