Industry Airbus announces production rate update for A320 Family

Airbus has released a statement, in which the manufacturer announces to update the aircraft production rate planning for its Airbus A320 Family aircraft. The decision to adjust the rate was made in response to the current market environment.

The manufacturer said, that from the current rate of 40 aircraft built per month, the company will move to 43 a month in the third quarter of 2021 and to 45 in the fourth quarter of this year. Before the pandemic hit, Airbus announced to rise the production rate of its A320 Family aircraft to 47 per month from July 2021.

4 aircraft less per months means, that the company could manufacture nearly 50 aircraft less per year than previously anticipated. Due to the Coronavirus-crisis and the following financial instability of airlines, Airbus did not receive major aircraft orders. To compensate the impacts, the virus had on the company itself, Airbus now decided to have a slower ramp up of aircraft production.

Regarding the A220 aircraft family, Airbus announced that the monthly production are of the aircraft will increase from four to five aircraft per month from the end of the first quarter this year. This was previously foreseen by the manufacturer.

In the widebody segment, Airbus is expected to remain stable at the current production rates. At this point in time, the manufacturer is building five A350 XWBs per month and two A330s per month. This decision, Airbus stated, "postpones a potential rate increase for the A350 to a later stage."

The French company added: "Airbus continues to monitor the market closely. With these revised rates, Airbus preserves its ability to meet customer demand while protecting its ability to further adapt as the global market evolves. Airbus expects the commercial aircraft market to return to pre-COVID levels by 2023 to 2025."

Airbus is a leading company in the aeronautics, space and related services. The company was founded in 1970 and now employs a workforce of around 135,000 people. The manufacturer is a leading manufacturer of civil passenger airliners and helicopters.