Aircraft

Airbus is expecting to achieve a net order total of 800 aircraft in 2008, exceeding predictions made at the beginning of the year.

Executive vice-president of programmes Tom Williams made the forecast during an event at Airbus' UK plant at Filton.

He adds that while the order backlog is "significant" at 3,700 aircraft, he is "under no illusions" that the financial crisis will cause some of this backlog to "disappear".

A review of the business situation conducted in September concluded that there was some softening in the "outer years" of the backlog, says Williams, and that it was "prudent to have a pause in the production ramp-up".

While single-aisle production will rise from 34 aircraft per month to 36 by December, a plan to increase it further to 38 in spring next year and 40 by the end of December has been deemed too aggressive, as it would stretch the supply chain.

Plans to increase A330 production rates from 7.5 per month today to 11 per month by the end of 2009 have also been modified. The new target rate is 10 per month, the reduction partly a reflection of Boeing's challenge to the US Air Force tanker decision.