An Airbus employee repairs aircraft parts for an Airbus A350 at the Airbus Atlantic plant in Bouguenay, near Nantes, western France, on February 29, 2024.
Sebastian Salomgomis | AFP | Getty Images
French planemaker Airbus is boosting production of its A350 planes because of consumer demand rather than the ongoing crisis at U.S. rival Boeing Co, its chief financial officer said.
Toulouse-based Airbus announced on Thursday that it plans to increase production of long-range aircraft to 12 aircraft per month in 2028.
Asked whether the company had benefited from Boeing’s instability, Airbus Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed on Thursday: “I I would say that obviously reflects the very strong commercial momentum we’re seeing with the A350.
Airbus announced a total of 170 commercial aircraft orders for this quarter, nearly half of which are A350 modifications.
“So (we’re experiencing) very, very strong order volumes,” Topfer said, adding that he expected the momentum to continue.
Airlines around the world say they are facing supply chain and production issues and claim they are working to quickly meet blazing demand for new planes.Airbus commercial aircraft order total jump to For all of 2023, there were 2,319, up from 1,078 in 2022.
Boeing has reduced production of its best-selling 737 Max, which is at the center of its crisis after being involved in two fatal crashes and an in-flight door jam explosion.
Topfer said the supply chain environment had not improved in recent months and remained “broad-based” on materials, complicating Airbus’ efforts to increase production.
He reiterated his comments that Boeing’s problems won’t help the industry as a whole or Airbus in particular.
“This has put additional pressure and impact on the supply chain and some individual suppliers, and that’s how we feel,” he said. “This does not help the industry and the development of Airbus.”
Topfer said Airbus has had “very constructive discussions” about improving efficiency with manufacturer Spirit, which is committed to Entering into acquisition talks with Boeing Facing cash flow challenges. Spirit serves both aircraft manufacturers.
“We may also consider taking over the work packages that Spirit produces for Airbus because they are very important to us and our first priority is of course ensuring that the supply of these work packages is secured,” he continued.
According to Reuters, Airbus’ quarterly results released on Thursday fell short of analysts’ expectations, with first-quarter operating profit falling 25% year-on-year to 577 million euros ($619 million). Boeing reported a quarterly loss of $355 million on Wednesday.
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