The Airbus Branding

Neelam Mathews

July 31, 2013

Restructuring of EADS will begin in January 2014 and will be completed in the second half of the year. But EADS says several approval procedures, including consultation with personnel, will need to be undertaken first.

Airbus, the greatest contributor to EADS's revenues, will remain as the brand for the commercial aircraft division. EADS chief Tom Enders says this recognises the "predominance" of the commercial sector in the group.

"The renaming simply gathers the entire company under the best brand we have, one that stands for internationalisation, innovation and integration," he adds.

Airbus Military - which builds the A400M transport - as well as the Astrium and Cassidian units, will be integrated into Airbus Defence & Space, based in Munich. This is to respond to the "changing market environment", particularly the "flat, or even shrinking" budgets in these sectors, says EADS.

The Eurocopter arm will be rebranded as Airbus Helicopters but will otherwise remain unchanged. "Rotorcraft technology is very particular and it's necessary to maintain the strong synergies between civil and military products," says EADS.

Enders says that the changes are "an evolution, not a revolution" and says the decision is a "logical step" in the development of the company.