Aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Thursday posted record net profit of 4.2 billion euros for 2022, outperforming 2021 by 1%, despite difficulties in ramping up plane production as planned due to problems in its chain. of suppliers.
The European aircraft manufacturer, which delivered 661 planes last year against 720 originally planned, now intends to deliver 720 to its customers in 2023.
“
We achieved solid financial results in an unfavorable operating environment which prevented our supply chain from recovering at the expected rate
”, summarizes its executive chairman Guillaume Faury, quoted in a press release.
It recognizes that with the objective of 720 devices to be delivered in 2023, it is a question of “
adapting
” to the capacities of its suppliers to follow it.
The global chain of suppliers (Airbus has more than 10,000) weakened by the pandemic, found itself in difficulty to follow the ramp-up decreed by the aircraft manufacturer, juggling between recruitment difficulties, supply tensions in certain materials. raw materials, global logistics disruptions and the energy crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine.
The aircraft manufacturer, however, maintains an ambitious objective, although postponed by a few months, to deliver 65 single-aisle A320 family (A319, A320 and A321) per month "by the end of 2024" and 75 aircraft per month in
2026
.
The resumption of global air traffic, including on long-haul routes, also leads it to "
conduct a feasibility study with suppliers to target monthly production of 9 A350s by the end of 2025
", a third more than at the present time, explains the aircraft manufacturer.
Similarly, it intends to increase its current monthly rate of 3 A330s per month to 4 in 2024.
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Its turnover rose by 13%, to 58.9 billion euros, reflecting the growth in the number of aircraft delivered but also the impact of the strong dollar, the aircraft being invoiced in this currency.
Revenues generated by the Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defense and Space divisions are also up, respectively by 8% and 11%.
