Flight International – 6 August 2019

This week

ightglobal.com 6-12 August 2019 | Flight International | 7

Defence keeps

Leonardo on

the attack

This Week P

A

irbus is confident that it has

overcome the powerplant

supply issues that have obstruct-

ed deliveries of A330neos, and

expects to hand over more

re-engined versions of the twinjet

this year than previous conven-

tional variants.

But the airframer adds that it is

maintaining a tighter control on

production in order to avoid

price repercussions in the twin-

aisle market.

Speaking during a half-year

results briefing, Airbus chief ex-

ecutive Guillaume Faury said

that the primary challenge was

moving A330neos to the delivery

centre, noting the complexities

associated with heads-of-version

aircraft, but that the year-end out-

look for the type “looks good”.

Airbus has trimmed A

production to around 50 aircraft

this year, with the A330neo –

powered by Rolls-Royce Trent

7000 engines – making up more

than half.

It delivered 13 A330neos in

the first six months of this year,

plus two A330-200s and two

-300s, which means the second

half will be back-loaded.

“There is a lot of complexity

and challenges,” admits Faury.

“But we’re getting the engines to

support [our delivery] perspec-

tive in 2019.”

Faury stresses that the airframer

is keen to avoid exacerbating the

pressures posed by a “complex

geopolitical and competitive envi-

ronment” in the twin-aisle sector.

“The first thing we’ve done is

to size production capacity at a

level we think we can sustain,

without being forced into a price

war,” he says.

He states that there is no “one

size fits all” approach to negotia-

tions with airlines regarding

pricing, and Airbus takes a “case

by case” approach.

“We want to compete. We

think we have better product,”

says Faury – but he adds that the

company will only go to an “ap-

propriate” level of concession

“and not go further”.

Airbus recently unveiled an

agreement from Air China for 20

A350s, after orders for the twinjet

were notably absent during the

Paris air show.

A350 production has been

stabilised at 10 aircraft per

month. Faury insists the com-

bined output of A350s and A330s

is the “right level” for its twin-

aisle production rates.

Meanwhile, Airbus is examin-

ing strategies to increase the

proportion of A321neo output

within its single-aisle produc-

tion system, as demand for the

variant rises.

The airframer says it is “study-

ing different options” to allocate

a larger share of production ca-

pacity to the A321neo, given the

popularity of the reconfigured

Airbus Cabin Flex (ACF) version

of the twinjet and the newly-

launched long-range A321XLR.

But the company acknowledg-

es that ramp-up of the ACF

version “remains challenging”.

Over the first six months of

2019 the airframer delivered 71

A321neos out of 294 A320- and

A320neo-family jets.

It had taken orders for 2,

A321neos by the end of June, in-

cluding several for the XLR

variant, which was unveiled dur-

ing the Paris air show. This

means the A321neo accounts for

40% of all orders for the re-en-

gined A320neo family.

Faury says Airbus’s operation-

al focus is “mainly” on the

A320neo ramp-up process,

pointing out that second-half

deliveries continue to be “chal-

lenging” as the company strives

to meet a full-year target of 880-

890 aircraft overall. ■

results DaviD KaminsKi-morroW london

airbus grapples with output challenges

Widebody deliveries stabilise as engine supply issues are resolved, but single-aisle production remains problematic

R

yanair chief executive

Michael O’Leary has ex-

pressed concern about slips in

the timeframe for the Boeing 737

Max’s expected return to service.

The budget carrier said on 16

July that it expected the Max to

be back in service by December,

but after reporting first-quarter re-

sults O’Leary on 29 July said that

this now seemed like it would

slip into January 2020.

“We were expecting 58 aircraft

for summer 2020; that’s now 30 at

best. It may well move to 20,

could move to 10, or zero if

Boeing don’t get their sh*t togeth-

er pretty quickly with the regula-

tors,” he says.

O’Leary says the latest he had

heard from Boeing was that it

now plans to submit the software

amendment in October, rather

than September.

“It’s very difficult to deal with

the Boeing delays, because they

keep getting delayed further and

further. Up until mid-July, we

were expecting them to be back

flying in September. Now it looks

like January next year,” he says.

Ryanair will not be taking de-

livery of any Max aircraft until

the type has been declared safe to

fly by both US and European reg-

ulators, O’Leary says.

The carrier is in talks with

Boeing over a new aircraft order

for the period from 2023 on-

wards, O’Leary reveals, but he

says those discussions are being

hindered by the airframer’s “ina-

bility” to get the Max back into

service. Ryanair is also in talks

with Airbus, which is pricing

“very aggressively” at the mo-

ment, he notes. ■

see air Transport P

saFety vicToria Bryan london

ongoing Max grounding leaves o’leary cursing

Airframer is carefully ramping final assembly rate for A330neos to keep tight rein on pricing pressure

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