The incredible success of the single-aisle A320 is propelling Airbus to look at a production rate of an industry-high 75 a month by 2025.
In a statement to its supply chain, Airbus said that it continues to expect the commercial aircraft market to recover to pre-COVID levels between 2023 and 2025, led by the single-aisle segment.
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“The aviation sector is beginning to recover from the COVID-19 crisis”, Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO said.
“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 aerostructures set-up and modernizing our A320 Family production facilities. All these actions are set in motion to prepare our future.”
Airbus says the average A320 Family production rate will be 45 aircraft per month in Q4 of 2021 and calls on suppliers to prepare for the future by securing a firm rate of 64 by Q2 2023.
In anticipation of a continued recovering market, Airbus is also asking suppliers to enable a scenario of rate 70 by Q1 2024. Longer-term, Airbus said it is investigating opportunities for rates as high as 75 by 2025.
On the Airbus A220, it says the production rate is five aircraft per month from Mirabel in Canada and Mobile in the USA and the rate is confirmed to rise to around six in early 2022. Airbus says it is envisaging a monthly production rate of 14 by the middle of the decade.
On the popular wide-body A350, the average production rate is five per month and Airbus says this is expected to increase to six by autumn 2022.
Airbus is also building its A330s at two per month and that rate is not expected to change.
Airbus has finished the build of the last A380 superjumbo for Emirates with only the interior fit to be completed.
Since it was launched in the mid-80s, Airbus has secured orders for 15,525 of the A320 family which four base models – the A318, A319, A320, and A321.
The current backlog for the A320 family is 5,693 aircraft.
