Airbus Mulls Raising Output Of Jet Built In Alabama As Demand Soars

By Kyunghee Park and Dong LyuBloomberg

Airbus SE is considering increasing production rates for its best-selling single-aisle A320 jetliners, as airlines around the world place orders for hundreds of planes to meet surging demand for air travel.

“The success of the products is forcing us to look at any opportunities we can have to improve the rate,” Eric Schulz, Airbus’s new sales chief, said at the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday. “We have not come to any conclusion yet. But this is something we are looking at very, very closely.”

Airlines, particularly in Asia, are scrambling to secure aircraft to support the rapid expansion in emerging markets, including China and India, where more and more people are taking to the skies for the first time. The demand has boosted orders for both Airbus’s A320 family of single-aisles as well as Boeing Co.’s 737 — models that form the backbone for short-haul travel.Airbus said previously it aims to produce 60 A320s a month by mid-2019, up from an average of 50 in the first quarter of last year, across production lines in Mobile, France, Germany and China. Outgoing Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier indicated last month that there is enough demand for Airbus to be producing as many as 70 of the aircraft a month, adding that any decision would be left to his successor.

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