BERLIN, Feb 3: Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government will push for keeping as many jobs as possible at the half-dozen Airbus factories in Germany, a government spokeswoman said on Saturday.

A spokeswoman for the government in Berlin said that fighting to keep as many German jobs as possible amid restructuring at the troubled plane builder was a priority for Merkel.

Thousands of Airbus workers in Germany staged protests on Friday over fears that as many as 8,000 jobs could be cut as its parent company, EADS, seeks to recover after costly delays to the planned A380 superjumbo.

German weekly Der Spiegel said Merkel planned to meet Louis Gallois, chief of the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., to push her nation's cause, before the company’s Feb. 20 release of restructuring plans.

The government spokeswoman could not comment on the report.—AP