PARIS (FRANCE) – As the aviation industry recovers from the coronavirus crisis, Airbus set out sweeping goals to expand production of jetliners
It confirmed plans to increase A320neo production by more than 10% from a current rate of 40 airplanes a month to 45 a month by the end of this year and gave suppliers a firm new target of 64 a month by the second quarter of 2023.
“In anticipation of a continued recovering market, Airbus is also asking suppliers to enable a scenario of rate 70 (a month) by Q1 2024. Longer term, Airbus is investigating opportunities for rates as high as 75 (a month) by 2025,” it said.
Outlining a mixture of firm and provisional goals, the planemaker said production of the wide-bodied A350 was expected to rise from an average of five a month now to six by the autumn of 2022.
It gave a firm target of increasing production of the small A220 from five a month to six a month in early 2022 and said it was envisaging monthly output of 14 for the same model by the middle of the decade.
Only the wide-bodied A330 family is excluded from the higher production ambitions and will stay at two a month, Airbus said.
The production statement comes after a news agency reported that Airbus had ordered suppliers to demonstrate as soon as possible that they are factory fit for increased single-aisle jet output, while warning of industrial quality problems.