European aviation giant EADS has said it will rename itself Airbus Group in order to “enhance integration and cohesion” at the group.

The newly reorganised group will be composed of three divisions: Airbus, responsible for all commercial aircraft activities; Airbus Defence & Space, home to the group’s defence and space activities including military transport aircraft; and Airbus Helicopters, comprising all commercial and military helicopter activities.

The group also unveiled plans to integrate Airbus Military, Astrium and Cassidian into one the defence and space division.

This is a response to the changing market environment with flat or even shrinking defence and space budgets in the western hemisphere, EADS said in a statement.

“This structural change will provide optimised market access, cost and market synergies and improved competitiveness overall,” added a statement.

“It will also provide better visibility on the European leader in space and defence.”

Airbus Helicopters, with its civil and military products, will remain unchanged.

The rotorcraft technology is very particular and it’s necessary to maintain the strong synergies between civil and military products.

Implementation is planned to start step-by-step on January 1st 2014 and will be completed in the second half of 2014.

Several regulatory milestones, works council consultations and other approval procedures have to be accomplished before the changes can come into full effect.

EADS chief executive Tom Enders commented: “What we are unveiling today is an evolution, not a revolution.

“It’s the next logical step in the development of our company.

“We affirm the predominance of commercial aeronautics in our group and we restructure and focus our defence and space activities to take costs out, increase profitability and improve our market position.

“The renaming simply gathers the entire company under the best brand we have, one that stands for internationalisation, innovation and integration - and also for some two thirds of our revenues.

“It reinforces the message that ‘we make things fly’.”