THOUSANDS of aerospace workers in East Lancashire are celebrating their part in a major milestone.

Since it first went into service 2,500 orders have been placed for the Airbus range of commercial aircraft.

Work for the European plane making consortium - of which British Aerospace is a partner - is major part of production at the firm's Samlesbury site.

The site, which employs 3,700, manufactures leading and trailing edge parts for wings on three Airbus versions and carbon fibre panels for the range.

Dozens of subcontractors throughout the area are also involved in the Airbus work.

"Our production increases reflect the airlines' current strong demand for aircraft," said Chris Geoghegan, managing director of British Aerospace Airbus.

"Our workforce and those of our suppliers and subcontractors have put enormous effort into increasing their efficiency to enable us to cope with the increases and to continue to deliver each aircraft on time."

By the end of this year 183 aircraft will have been delivered in 12 months compared with 126 in 1996 overall.

During 1998 further production increases are planned to around 220 aircraft.

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