Flight plan
Can Britain remain a planemaking superpower?
THE sleek de Havilland Comet, the world’s first commercial passenger jet, was designed and built in Britain 60 years ago. It is a dozen years since the last passenger jet, a small regional airliner, was assembled in the country. This would neatly illustrate a familiar tale of industrial tailspin were the industry not in such fine fettle. Britain is currently the world’s second-largest aerospace manufacturer, with 17% of the global market, behind only America. But staying at that altitude will be tough.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Flight plan”
From the March 1st 2014 edition
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