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Airbus says it expects its takeover of part of the Spirit AeroSystems operation in Belfast to be completed by the end of the year.

The deal was announced in July as part of a wider break up of the Spirit business.

Spirit is Northern Ireland’s most significant manufacturing employer, with about 3,500 staff.

Last month trade unions raised concerns about the progress of the deal.

Airbus is taking control of the part of the Belfast operation which makes wings and fuselage for its A220 jet.

The company’s chief financial officer, Thomas Toepfer, expects the deal to be finalised soon.

"We have signed a binding term sheet and a quite detailed binding term sheet with Spirit," he told industry analysts this week.

"Nevertheless, we have to get to a formal signing of a contract and that is where we currently are. We’re expecting that to happen before the end of the year."

It is understood that a regulatory review will be required after the deal signing, with completion in mid-2025.

The completion of the deal will still leave uncertainty for the staff who work in the non-Airbus part of the Belfast business.

That part of the business mostly involves work on a range of Bombardier business jets.

Spirit’s wider global business is being carved up between Boeing and Airbus, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers.

Spirt was founded in 2005 when part of Boeing’s business was spun off as a separate company.

The break up deal was initiated by Boeing which wants to bring Spirit back in house as part of its efforts to tackle manufacturing problems.

Aside from the Belfast operation Airbus will also take control of two Spirit factories in the US, one in France and one in Morocco.