Airbus Watching Japanese Developments Closely

Airbus, which relies on Japanese suppliers for parts for its commercial airliners, said Wednesday it's watching closely the unfolding events in Japan, but said it's too early to assess any impact from the disasters that have struck the country in the wake of a massive earthquake at the end of last week.

Airbus's Japanese aerospace suppliers include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (7011.TO), Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (7270.TO), Bridgestone Corp. (5108.TO), Toray Industries Inc. (3402.TO) and Toho Tenax, a carbon-fiber supplier that's owned by Teijin Ltd (3401.TO).

A total of 12 Japanese companies participate in the manufacture of Airbus's medium range A320 family, 15 in the production of the wide-bodied A330 and A340, and 20 are involved in making the long-range double-decker A380.

Airbus has 19 employees at its Japanese subsidiary Airbus Japan, and five expatriate employees working with Airbus customers. Airbus said its representatives in Tokyo have been relocated further south, away from the risk of radiation fallout from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facility in the northeast. Meanwhile, expatriate families have returned home.

-By David Pearson, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]