Airbus revealed that it’s projecting to deliver an increase of 90 aircraft in 2019 compared to 2018. The increase sets the total to 890 planes, up from 800 the year before. The announcement was made during Airbus’ annual press conference in February 2019.
Airbus Success in 2018
Many people weren’t expecting to hear such favorable news from Airbus during their press conference based on the recent headline of ending production of the A380. Airbus surprised the media, however, when announcing that the company surpassed all of its expectations for 2018, including profit and other key performance indicators.
Based on the success of the previous year, Airbus is forecasting its projects to continue with the same trend over 2019. One of the most notable aspects of the forecast is their commercial aircraft deliveries. The company’s commercial aircraft sales were mainly driven in 2018 by sales of approximately 750 aircraft. Orders were increased significantly; bring its current backlog to an industry record-setting 7,577 orders.
To deliver on their promises orders, Airbus is expecting to increase their production. The expectation of delivering 890 will be substantial progress on the current back orders but still signals that there is significant growth that Airbus can still achieve year-over-year.
Several aircraft models have attributed to the growth in Airbus’s bottom line. The company mentions putting a focus on its A220, A320, A330, and A350 models to grow their respective revenues.
Growth Trend of Airbus
Airbus has consistently seen year-over-year growth thanks to its dominance in the manufacturing industry. The company continues to outperform the S&P 500 index over the past decade. The recent announcements made by Airbus has also led to stock price increases as the public begins to get a more positive perspective on its performance.
Airbus’s plans to deliver 90 more aircraft in 2019 will all be accounted for in their commercial aircraft sector. The sector alone has performed well above everyone’s expectations. Commercial aircraft earnings for Airbus have doubled to $4.3 Billion as of 2018. The increases lead to a rise in revenue to nearly $48 Billion.
The press conference also detailed that Airbus is growing their other sectors. New management has created strong operations as of the past year in its helicopter, defense, and space businesses. Each of these sectors is projected to also grow over the next year.
Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus, stated during the press conference, “Though 2018 had plenty of challenges for us, we delivered on our commitments with record profitability thanks to a strong operational performance, particularly in Q4,” Continuing, “With an order backlog of around 7,600 aircraft, we intend to ramp-up aircraft production even further.
The challenges mentioned by Enders allude to the cancellation of the A380 model. Major airlines including Emirates have decreased their order amount, and the overall industry demand hasn’t responded well to the aircraft based on current trends. Airbus has still managed to grow its commercial aircraft production.
The expectation of delivery of 890 aircraft reflects an 11% growth, maintaining Airbus’s position as one of the top manufacturers and growing.