Airbus tells suppliers to plan for 2022 output hike
PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus is asking suppliers to get ready for a further 18% increase in A320-family jet output during 2022, on top of existing targets for this year, as airlines ready for a partial return to normal travel, industry sources said.
The tentative new goal would lift output of the workhorse domestic and medium-haul jet, which competes with Boeing’s partially grounded 737 MAX, to 53 a month, they told Reuters.
The number being floated for end-2022 remains informal and Airbus has only committed so far to raising output in two steps to 45 a month by the end of 2021, from 40 now.
But it is the first concrete indication of the shape of recovery Airbus hopes to achieve for its main single-aisle jets next year as it restores coffers depleted by the pandemic.
“We do not comment on speculation regarding the longer-term trajectory,” a company spokesman said.
“We see the market recovering to pre-COVID levels in the 2023-2025 time-frame, with single-aisle recovering first,” he said, adding, “uncertainties remain.”
Airbus, which had been enjoying record jet demand before the virus triggered widespread travel bans, cut output of its best-selling model by a third to 40 a month around a year ago.
In January, it announced plans to increase output to 43 a month in the third quarter and 45 a month in the fourth.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said last month the company aimed for a “steep ramp-up” in 2022 and 2023, without elaborating.
Some suppliers have warned of bumps ahead in restoring pre-pandemic production as smaller parts makers struggle with cash shortages. Airbus must also address industrial snags that held up dozens of deliveries even before COVID19, they say.
Output of larger wide-bodied jets remains depressed by travel restrictions and is not expected to recover soon.