Airbus held its annual press conference in Toulouse this morning to review the results of 2013 and look forward to 2014.
The key take-aways are:
1. The company plans to increase production of its A320 family from the current 42 per month to 44 per month in 2014, and with the opening of the new plant in Mobile Alabama, to 46 in 2015 and 48 in 2016. (Boeing is also planning increases from 44 per month today to 47 in 2017 and 52 by 2019.) In comparing Airbus and Boeing, remember that Airbus operates with a month off during the summer in Europe.
2. The A350-800 may gain 1-2 additional rows of seats and be pushed back couple of years to better compete with the 787-9
3. An A330neo is “only one option” that Airbus is considering for the A330 program
4. Airbus won the battle of orders over Boeing, booking 1,503 net orders to 1,355 at Boeing, but Boeing had more deliveries in 2013, 648 to 626.
5. Airbus backlog now stands at 5,559 aircraft, approximately eight years of production at current rates.
6. Airbus expects to break even on the A380 program in 2015, and on the A350 program by the end of the decade.
7. Airbus has raised list prices by an average of 2.6% for 2014.
8. The A350 program is progressing well, and on target for certification in Q3 and EIS in Q4 of this year.
Bottom Line: Airbus had a phenomenal year in 2013 and remains well positioned for the remainder of this decade.
