The plan will help schedule necessary investments and secure long term capacity and production rate readiness, in line with the expected recovery.
27 May 2021: The aviation aftermarket is started to recover from the aftershocks of COVID19 pandemic. On this backdrop Airbus expects the commercial market to recover from 2023 to 2025, led by single-aisle segment. Therefore Airbus has given an update of their production plans for suppliers’ convenience. This will help in order to schedule necessary investments and secure long term capacity and production rate readiness, in line with the expected recovery.
“The aviation sector is beginning to recover from the COVID-19 crisis”, said Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO. “The message to our supplier community provides visibility to the entire industrial ecosystem to secure the necessary capabilities and be ready when market conditions call for it. In parallel, we are transforming our industrial system by optimizing our aero structures set-up and modernizing our A320 Family production facilities. All these actions are set in motion to prepare our future.”
Airbus confirms an average A320 Family production rate of 45 aircraft per month in fourth quarter of 2021 and calls on suppliers to prepare for the future by securing a firm rate of 64 by second quarter of 2023. In anticipation of a continued recovering market, Airbus is also asking suppliers to enable a scenario of rate 70 by first quarter of 2024. Longer term, Airbus is investigating opportunities for rates as high as 75 by 2025. As for the A220 family, currently at around rate five aircraft per month from Mirabel and Mobile, the rate is confirmed to rise to around six in early 2022. Airbus is also envisaging a monthly production rate of 14 by the middle of the decade. For the A350 Airbus plans an expected rise to six aircraft by 20211 and the production remains at an average of two per month for A330.
Airbus is protecting its ability to further adapt as the market evolves.
