Airbus to delay new freighter as A350 problems linger, sources say

Airbus is delaying the arrival of a freighter version of its A350 jet by up to a year and faces hurdles in increasing output of its wider A350 aircraft family in coming months as it wrestles with supply problems, industry sources told Reuters. The delay in the industry's latest dedicated cargo aircraft could be announced as early as Thursday when the European planemaker posts annual results, they said, asking not to be named because the discussions remain confidential. Airbus declined to comment on the schedule for the freighter, which is currently due to enter service in 2026. The setback to the A350F comes as Airbus also struggles to increase output of existing A350 passenger jets, particularly due to ongoing delays in the arrival of fuselage parts from Spirit AeroSystems, industry sources said. Those delays could effectively place an informal cap on A350 production through the rest of this year, with Airbus struggling to increase A350-family production above current rates of around six jets a month, the sources said. However, Airbus is still expected to stick to a published target of hitting 12 A350s a month during 2028, including both passenger and freighter models, they added. An Airbus spokesperson declined comment on production but referred back to comments given with its nine-month results in October, when Airbus said it was keeping the 2028 target while "actively managing specific supply chain challenges" in 2025. Spirit AeroSystems declined comment.<br/>