Europe’s aviation industry also struggles due to Airbus problems

• European manufacturer updates annual supply estimate

• He claims he is suffering from supply chain problems.

• But some suppliers accuse it of lacking predictability.

Airbus was supposed to deliver some 880 aircraft passengers in 2024. At first glance, this target may have seemed very generous, although in fact it was far from meeting the growing demand in the sector, driven mainly by the ongoing Boeing crisis and the increase in commercial flights.

However, the European giant recently updated its forecasts and announced that it expects to deliver about 770 planes this year. As we can conclude, this is bad news for airlines that are hungry for new planes but are suffering the consequences of the manufacturers’ problems.

Airbus puts pressure on European aviation industry

Boeing is not the only company facing setbacks these days. Although Airbus is not involved in reputation crisis Like its American rival, it is failing to produce as many planes as it would like (and as promised). There are several reasons that have led the company to this situation.

According to the official statement, Airbus is experiencing supply chain issues at the level of engines, aerostructures and cabin equipment. In other words, the company requires a certain flow of spare parts that its suppliers cannot meet, but this may be accompanied by other problems.

Aircraft manufacturers rely on a few large suppliers and many smaller ones. As German media outlet Handelsblatt, a country where Airbus has one of its plants, notes, some suppliers say that “lack of predictability” turns into problems for them, mostly average ones.

It is clear that Airbus management will have ample reasons to update its production and delivery forecasts, although we cannot deny that supply chain issues often cause many problems across industries. We saw the most striking example of this reality a few years ago during the pandemic.

According to the above-mentioned media outlet, one of the shortcomings that Airbus will face will be increase production aircraft. In this case, a higher flow rate of parts must be guaranteed, but this is not always possible. “We cannot produce more parts overnight. The requirements are very high,” said a company executive who wished to remain anonymous.

On top of all this, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is starting to appear on the scene. We’re talking about a Shanghai-based aircraft manufacturer that has the Comac C919, a competitor to the Airbus A320. And what’s more, they claim to have received more than 1,000 orders for the domestic market.

It should be noted that the C919 does not have the necessary certification for operation in Europe and the US, and it is unclear when it will be able to obtain it. But we should also not lose sight of the fact that China is one of the largest passenger aircraft markets in the world and that most of its aircraft have so far been made by Boeing or Airbus.

Images | Airbus

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