Airbus wants to increase A350 production
Demand for aircraft remains high, and long-haul aircraft in particular are being ordered after the pandemic. The Airbus Group is responding and wants to become more effective in this area. However, the company expects supply chains to remain strained.
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is responding to the growing demand for long-haul aircraft following the coronavirus pandemic. The Franco-German company announced in Toulouse that ten Airbus A350 aircraft per month will be delivered from 2026, the same number as planned before the crisis. Previously, Airbus had planned to deliver nine A350s by the end of 2025. For the short and medium-haul A320 model, Airbus remains confident that it will be able to increase production to 75 aircraft per month by 2026. For the current year, the Group is sticking to its target of delivering 720 commercial aircraft. After nine months, this figure stands at 488, 51 more than a year ago.
This boosted turnover in the first nine months by twelve percent to 42.6 billion euros. The adjusted operating result (EBIT) climbed by four percent to 3.6 billion euros, with growth of 21 percent in the third quarter alone. Strong growth in commercial aircraft made up for write-downs in the satellite business. However, analysts had expected slightly higher turnover and profits.
"We continue to make progress in implementing our business plan in a global environment that is becoming increasingly complex," said CEO Guillaume Faury. Demand for commercial aircraft is very strong, he added, with long-haul aircraft in particular continuing to grow. "We expect the supply chain to remain a challenge," said Faury. In the first nine months, a net total of 1241 aircraft orders were received - i.e. after deduction of cancelations - compared to 647 a year ago.
Airbus is still aiming for an adjusted EBIT of six billion euros for the year as a whole. The operating cash flow (free cash flow) is expected to reach three billion euros. After nine months, however, at 1.04 (2.90) billion euros, it is still significantly below the previous year due to the build-up of inventories in the summer.
Source: www.ntv.de
