Airbus cuts delivery target after issues with top-selling jet

European manufacturer expects to hand over reduced number of planes to airlines by end of the year

An Airbus A320 aircraft takes off from the company's headquarters in Toulouse, south-western France. Shares in Airbus fell more than 10 per cent in Paris on December 1. AFP

Airbus cut its annual commercial aircraft delivery target for this year after issues with its best-selling A320 narrow-body model.

The European plane maker expects to hand over 790 aircraft to airline customers this year, it said in a statement on Wednesday. This is down from an earlier target of 820 planes.

The delivery cuts are “in light of recent supplier quality issue on fuselage panels” impacting the delivery flow of its A320 family of aircraft, the world's biggest plane maker said.

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On Monday, Airbus said it identified a quality problem in metal panels on some of its A320 jets, days after it found a software glitch that affected about 6,000 jets worldwide.

The quality issue potentially affects a limited number of A320 metal panels. In some cases, the production process of these panels led them to being too thick or too thin.

The external skin panels are located at the front of the aircraft, behind the cockpit and on both sides of the two forward doors. While all aircraft will need inspection, not all of them will require further action.

The aircraft potentially affected includes both those in production and those in service. All newly produced panels conform to all requirements.

The total number of planes needing inspections was 628, including 168 already in service, Reuters reported, citing a company presentation to airline customers. The affected parts have the wrong thickness following a process of stretching and milling carried out by Seville-based Sofitec Aero, the presentation showed.

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The single-aisle A320 is Airbus's most popular model and a workhorse of the aviation industry. The A320 family has received more than 19,000 orders globally, the company said this month. At the end of October, the A320 Neo family of aircraft had won more than 11,300 orders from 150 airline customers worldwide.

Major airlines in the region operating A320s include the UAE's only listed airline Air Arabia; Etihad Airways; Qatar Airways; Saudi Arabian budget carriers flyadeal and flynas; Turkish Airlines and Indigo; and others.

Last month, all-Boeing operator flydubai signed an initial pact for 150 Airbus A321 Neo single-aisle planes during the Dubai Airshow. The agreement for 150 firm A321 Neos, with options for 100 more aircraft, is valued at $24 billion. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2031.

Airbus has maintained its financial guidance, with targets for an adjusted Ebit of about €7 billion ($8.1 billion) and free cash flow before customer financing of around €4.5 billion. It is due to disclose its commercial aircraft orders and deliveries for November on Friday.