Airbus tells airlines some of their deliveries in 2025 and 2026 may be delayed

Airbus Shas been warning airlines that some of their aircraft deliveries due in the next two years risk being delayed, an indication that supply-chain glitches at the world’s largest planemaker might extend well beyond the current year. The European planemaker has been notifying customers in recent weeks that some handovers planned for 2025 and 2026 are at risk of breaching contracted deadlines, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. Planes could be delayed by months from when they were originally due, the people said. Airbus said this week that it won’t be able to deliver the number of aircraft previously predicted for 2024 as it struggles with shortages on components ranging from engines to structural parts to cabin interiors. The company also delayed by a year its plan to increase monthly build rates to 75 units on the A320 model, meaning fewer of its most popular model for customers seeking to upgrade. “Airbus is facing, at the moment, persistent and specific supply-chain issues,” CEO Guillaume Faury said on a conference call this week after the company cut its guidance. The company’s operating environment “has actually degraded recently against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and even more on specific supply chain challenges.” Shares in Airbus fell as much as 3.7% in Paris after Bloomberg News reported on the delays. This week’s losses have dragged the Toulouse, France-based planemaker to a 6.5% decline this year. The company is largely sold out of its A320 family aircraft until the end of the decade, and its A330 and A350 widebody models are also harder to come by in the next few years as a boom in travel prompts airlines to buy jets in record numbers. <br/>