Airbus Deliveries Dropped amid Global Supply Chain Issues

In the first quarter, Airbus deliveries fell by 11.00% on an industrial basis to 127 jets, highlighting concerns about global supply chains.

Its stock price went up by 1.48% to $34.36 on April 06 due to a holiday. However, it is bound to plunge by -0.23% to $34.27 in the upcoming session.

Shipments were down from the 142 physical exports in the same period last year or 9.00% lower. Last year, the company recovered two deliveries to mirror Western sanctions in Russia.

According to analysts, Airbus delivered 11 wide-body jets, which included five A350s, within the first quarter of 2023. Also, it managed to ship ten small A220 jets and 106 of its famous A320neo-family aircraft.

In January, they had a one-third drop in shipments. As a result, it led to a smaller cumulative year-on-year deficit of 11.00% from 16.00% last month.

Moreover, issues regarding industrial and supply chains affected its hopes for a high 130s delivery in Q1. 

In 2022, Airbus failed to meet export targets. This left its CEO Guillaume Faury under pressure to hit 2023’s goal of 720 deliveries.

After the previous year’s disappointment, the CEO labeled 2023 as a make-or-break year, based on experts. He said the firm hopes to avoid flying blind in the second half of the year.

Output Capacity Increase for Airbus in China

The CEO of the European plane-maker Airbus will open its second final assembly line in China. This would increase its production capacity in the country.

According to Faury, it makes sense as the Chinese market has ongoing growth in serving locals for their airlines. Besides, Asia is now an important market for Airbus and rival Boeing as air travel demand increases.

Furthermore, he signed the framework accord for their new site in a ceremony.

The firm’s new assembly line found in Tianjin for the company’s widely popular A320 medium-haul jets would start its operations in late 2025. Airbus aims to hit a higher rate of six a month this 2023.