TOULOUSE, FRANCE — Airbus is facing a heavily backloaded widebody aircraft delivery profile for the year, with seat supply issues emerging as one of the primary bottlenecks. During the first quarter, the manufacturer delivered only five A350s to airlines including Starlux, Turkish Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and Singapore Airlines.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury admitted during a May 3 briefing that A350 deliveries were weak in the first quarter and will continue to be so in the second. The delivery profile will be more backloaded than average, though Faury emphasizes it's not necessarily linear, depending on various constraints.
Faury highlights that the problem is rooted in supply rather than demand, with late-arriving seat supplies, particularly high-end seats, contributing to widebody delays. Airbus currently produces approximately six A350s per month, with plans to increase the rate to nine by the end of 2025.While Faury acknowledges that seat supply is not the sole cause of delays, it is among several factors influencing the backloaded delivery profile, which is not related to financing. Over the first quarter, Airbus delivered six A330s, which have a monthly production rate half that of the A350.
