Mumbai: Thousands of workers at Airbus in Germany staged protests and threatened to hold up aircraft deliveries to fight for their jobs amidst plans by the European planemaker for restructuring.

Suppliers and supporters joined over 24,000 Airbus workers to hold demonstrations to save the planemaker's seven German plants, the IG Metal Union said.

Airbus' parent, Franco-German EADS will unveil a restructuring plan this month after it was plunged into crisis last year when wiring problems delayed production and deliveries of its A380 superjumbo aircraft, costing almost 5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in future profits.

Unions fear the plan will axe up to 8,000 jobs in Germany, where the aircraft manufacturer employs about 22,300 people. Under threat are also up to 8,000 supplier jobs.

The protests at Airbus plants in Hamburg, Bremen, Laupheim and Varel could spread across Europe, the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) warned.

French unions also pledged support to fight job cuts at Airbus and appealed for state help to shore up the planemaker. About 100 Airbus workers protested outside a government office in Toulouse, southwest France, voicing fears over reports that up to 10,000 European jobs, including many in France, may be axed.