The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) is created, becoming the parent of Airbus.

the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, known as EADS, was officially created through the merger of major aerospace and defense companies from France, Germany, and Spain, becoming the parent company of Airbus. EADS was formed by combining France’s Aérospatiale Matra, Germany’s DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, and Spain’s Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA, commonly known as CASA. The transaction consolidated a wide range of civil aviation, defense, space, and helicopter activities under a single corporate structure. Airbus Industrie, which had operated since 1970 as a consortium of European partners, became a subsidiary within the newly formed EADS group. The creation of EADS represented a restructuring of Europe’s aerospace sector at the turn of the century. The company was headquartered in the Netherlands, with major operational bases in France and Germany. At the time of its formation, EADS employed more than 100,000 people and combined activities that included commercial aircraft production through Airbus, military aircraft programs such as the Eurofighter, space systems, and helicopter manufacturing through Eurocopter. In 2001, Airbus was converted from a consortium into a fully integrated company, Airbus SAS, jointly owned by EADS and BAE Systems. EADS later increased its shareholding in Airbus, and in January 2014 the group was renamed Airbus Group, before adopting the name Airbus SE in 2017. The establishment of EADS on 10/07/2000 marked the creation of a single corporate parent overseeing Europe’s principal civil aircraft manufacturer. #EADS #Airbus #AerospaceIndustry #Europe #AviationHistory