GE Aviation to invest £256m in European facility

US financing issues are causing the company to look to Europe

GE Aviation will invest more than $400 million (£256 million) to create a turboprop engine development, test and production operation in Europe which will create 500-1,000 jobs.    

The company said: “Among the factors driving GE Aviation to pursue the new operation in Europe is the need to support these and other international customers with financing through government-sponsored Export Credit Agencies (ECAs)."

GE Aviation is currently bidding on $11 billion of projects that require export financing. The US remains the only major economy in the world without an Export Bank. The company has started talks with several overseas ECAs to secure financing for its customers since the US Export Import Bank (Ex-Im) authorisation expired on 1 July.

The company is also expanding its engine testing capability at its facility in Winnipeg, Canada, with $23 million in investments.  This includes enhancing its wind tunnel and test stands to support development testing for GE’s new large commercial engine, the GE9X.

Additionally, GE Aviation announced plans to invest $55 million in Brazil to expand capability by building a new engine test facility at its Celma facility, supporting growth in assembly and overhaul of its commercial engines in airline service.