• rsz_airbus_50th_years_anniversary_formation_flight_-_air_to_air
    Airbus
    Stock Code:
    AIR
    Date Founded:
    1970-12-18
    CEO:
    Guillaume Faury
    Headquarters Location:
    Toulouse, France
    Key Product Lines:
    Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Airbus A380
    Business Type:
    Planemaker

Airbus has confirmed plans to hike production rates of its popular A320 family to 75 jets per month by 2025, up from its current rate of 50 per month. The proposal comes despite the company facing warnings and pushback from some suppliers over previous plans to boost A320 production to 65 by Summer 2023.

The company says it will raise production levels by working with partners, increasing capacity at its industrial sites, and ensuring all its commercial aircraft assembly sites are A321-capable. The news was revealed in the manufacturer’s Q1 2022 report, which also revealed that the A321XLR’s entry into service would be delayed up until 2024.

Spirit-Airlines-Airbus-A320-271N-N915NKjpg-(2)-(1)-1
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

A steep climb ahead

Airbus has been warning suppliers for almost a year that it would be hiking production rates as and when demand for travel returned. However, the unprecedented nature of this increase could make it difficult for suppliers, many of whom are still recovering from the impact of COVID-19, to avoid labor and supply chain problems.

A supply deal with engine makers Safran and MTU last week, which will run through till 2024, is likely to have raised Airbus’s confidence about being able to hit such a high target. The manufacturer’s pre-Covid record for A320 production was just 60 jets a month.

Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, said:

“Looking beyond 2022, we see continuing strong growth in commercial aircraft demand driven by the A320 Family. As a result, we are now working with our industry partners to increase A320 Family production rates further to 75 aircraft a month in 2025. This ramp-up will benefit the aerospace industry’s global value chain.”

Airbus said it still plans to deliver around 720 commercial aircraft this year despite a complex geopolitical and economic environment making its risk profile much more challenging.

Air France Airbus A320-214 F-HEPC
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

What else did Airbus’s Q1 2022 report reveal?

In the first quarter of 2022, the manufacturer made almost $1.3 billion (€1.22 billion) in profit, a 237% increase when compared to the same time period in 2021. The continued rebound in demand for travel and aircraft also saw the giant increase its workforce by more than 600 over the last three months.

Airbus delivered 142 commercial aircraft in the first three months of the year, although two of these were unable to be transferred to Russia due to international sanctions after the country invaded Ukraine. Over 75% of these deliveries were made up by the A320 family.

Airbus deliveries
Airbus A320 family orders dominated deliveries in Q1 2022. Chart: Simple Flying, created using Flourish.

The company saw a net order for 83 new commercial aircraft, compared with a net loss of 61 aircraft in Q1 2021. The latest set of orders brings Airbus’s total commercial aircraft backlog to an impressive 7,023. Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defence and Space also saw positive growth in their Q1 2022 performance.

Despite the delay to the A321XLR, Airbus hopes its increased A320 output will help it further cement its position over Boeing as the leader of the narrowbody market. But with the Boeing 777X delayed, Qantas’s recent A350 order, and Airbus delivering more widebodies than Boeing for the first time in a decade last year, Boeing may find itself looking over its shoulder in the widebody market too.

What did you make of Airbus’s Q1 2022 report? Let us know in the comments below.