Airbus revises production rates

AIRBUS is adapting production rates of its A320 programme from 36 to 34 a month from October 2009 onwards. In addition, the A330/A340 family will be paused at the current level of 8.5 a month and not increased further as previously planned.

Airbus blames the airlines slashing of capacity and delaying or even cancelling of deliveries due to the worldwide economic crisis.

Tom Enders, Airbus chief executive officer said: “We monitor the market continuously and try to be proactive. Flexibility and adaptability are essential in times of crises. We reached record production rates in late 2008, but now we are seeing a drop of air traffic in most regions. Many airlines are taking capacity out of the market. I do not exclude further production cuts if the need arises.”

Job cuts are not expected.

Airbus achieved a record high of 483 deliveries in 2008 and a spokesperson said that it still aims to achieve a similar figure in 2009. They added that the production rate cuts would not affect the 2009 Airbus delivery target.