Airbus sees jet demand conquering suppliers' output fears

Airbus is sticking to its quest for record jet output after airlines reported glimmers of a post-pandemic recovery this week, and believes engine makers who have questioned its most ambitious proposals will be "unable to resist" demand. Airbus has said it hopes to almost double jet production in a few years as borders reopen. Engine makers fear doing so too quickly could upset their own recovery, by forcing existing jets into retirement rather than their repair shops. read more Interviewed at the airline industry's main annual event, Airbus CCO Christian Scherer held out the prospect that Airbus would play on fierce competition between engine makers as it aims to secure future output of its A320neo. "There will be engines. That is the beauty of having engine competition in the programme," he said. "There is a lot of rhetoric ... (but) at the end of the day if customers ... demand more modern airplanes ... no engine maker in the world is going to be able to resist the call of nature. So I’m not concerned about it.”<br/>