Airbus has slowed the trajectory of its A320neo-family ramp-up by around a year, in response to supply-chain concerns, pushing the 75-per-month production target back to 2026.
The airframer had intended to take A320neo-family monthly output to 65 aircraft by early 2024, but this has been revised to the end of next year.
But the company is maintaining a second-quarter 2024 entry-into-service date for its new long-range A321XLR.
“We are adapting our production to match supply,” says chief executive Guillaume Faury.
The manufacturer has been forced to keep production below pre-crisis levels, missing its delivery target last year, given the recovery difficulties experienced by the supply chain.
But Airbus has responded to the reviving interest in long-haul aircraft, as international travel continues to return, and aims to raise monthly production of A350s to nine – from the current six – by the end of 2025.
It has already hiked A330 production to three per month and will lift this further, to four, next year. Airbus says the rise in long-haul output follows a “feasibility study” with the supply chain.
