Production Problems Delay Airbus A350 Again

Advertisement

Airbus will have to delay the delivery of its new A350 commercial jet after encountering problems with wing manufacturing. The company said A350s won’t reach customers for at least two years.

The delay is a blow for Airbus, which is vying with American airplane giant Boeing (NYSE:BA) for contracts in the commercial airline market. The A350 is meant to counter Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

News of the delay comes as Airbus’ parent, European Aeronautic Defence & Space (EADS) announced second-quarter operating income of 735 million euros, nearly twice as much as last year, and better than the 626 million euros that analysts had anticipated, Reuters noted.

EADS recorded revenue of 13.53 billion euros during the quarter, up 12% from 2011, and topping the $12.979 billion euros analysts were looking for.

The company increased its earnings outlook for the year from an earlier 2.5 billion euros to 2.7 billion euros, and raised its forecast of Airbus airplane deliveries from 570 planes to 580 planes.

The new production delay on the A350 will result in a 124 million euro charge. The A350 has faced a number of delays that have already pushed its first delivery back a full year from the originally announced date.

Earlier this week, Boeing reported second-quarter earnings and revenues that topped Wall Street’s forecasts. The company recently landed a $7.2 billion order for its 737 MAX jets at Britain’s Farnborough International Airshow.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/07/production-problems-delay-airbus-a350-again/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC