Airbus said on Feb. 19 it would cut production of its short-haul A320 aircraft from October and was abandoning plans to ramp up production of two other models. It said it planned to lower production of the A320 from 36 planes to 34 per month and would hold the production rate of the A330 and A340 planes at 8.5 per month, but said these measures would not affect jobs at the major manufacturer.
"This decision reflects Airbus' current view on market demand in times of airlines adapting their capacities and of continuing uncertainties caused by the worldwide economic crisis," the company said. "At this point, no impact on employment is foreseen," it said.
"We reached record production rates in late 2008, but now we see a drop of air traffic in most regions," said Tom Enders, the chief executive of Airbus. "Many airlines are taking capacity out of the market. I do not exclude further production cuts if the need arises."
Airbus is the commercial aircraft subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS).
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
