Airbus profit jumps as jet-delivery delays begin to ease

Airbus’s Q2 profit doubled as the company accelerated deliveries of its best-selling single-aisle jetliner following delays at the model’s two engine providers. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax increased to E1.15b from a restated E572m a year earlier, Airbus said Thursday. Analysts had estimated a figure of E1.05b, based on six estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Customer payments for the re-engined A320neo family of planes had been held up by a three-month halt in handovers of Pratt & Whitney-powered jets, which have been dogged by a series of glitches, and manufacturing issues concerning aircraft with turbines from General Electric-led CFM. Airbus has since made headway in reducing the number of planes parked outside its plants from a May peak, with 110 Neos delivered in H1 out of 239 in total. CEO Tom Enders said that while Neo deliveries surpassed those for the original A320 model in Q2, meeting a target of 800 handovers across Airbus’s full aircraft line-up for 2018 as a whole remains challenging.<br/>