LONDON: Airbus SE boosted its financial targets for the second time this year while confirming a production ramp-up that would cement the European planemaker’s advantage over rival Boeing Co.

       The shares rose as much as 3.2% yesterday after Airbus said adjusted operating profit will reach €4.5bil (US$5.2bil or RM21.58bil) in 2021. The European planemaker reversed some of the charges it had taken for Covid-19 disruptions as it gained confidence the pandemic’s impact was fading.

       During the crisis, Airbus extended its lead in the all-important narrow-body segment that’s now leading the demand comeback. Chief executive officer (CEO) Guillaume Faury is seeking to rally suppliers still hurting from the downturn behind a plan to accelerate production toward levels envisioned before the pandemic hit.

       “As far as we are concerned at Airbus, we are now in the ramp-up,” Faury said on a conference call. “We see all the difficulties associated with going from hibernation for 15 months back to business.”

       The aggressive stance contrasts with Boeing, whose shares fell on Wednesday after it said production issues with the 787 Dreamliner could cost it US$1bil (RM4.15bil), while deliveries of the 737 Max – the competitor to Airbus’s top-selling A320 series – won’t resume in China until early next year.

       Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, gained 3.1% at 9.27am in Paris. The shares are up 26% this year, compared with a 3.5% drop for Boeing.

       While air travel is recovering, Airbus is grappling with supply-chain issues that have roiled manufacturers across the globe. The company stood by an earlier goal of delivering 600 jets this year, despite what Faury termed issues with a small number of suppliers.

       Furlough programmes have protected Airbus from labour shortages, but the company is having difficulties with on-time deliveries from certain suppliers, which he blamed for disappointing deliveries during September. Handovers in October are also likely to fall short of current output targets, Faury said on the call.

       Aircraft lessors and enginemakers have also pushed back against the longer-range plans, with Raytheon Technologies Corp CEO Greg Hayes saying that he wasn’t sure the market would support build rates of 75 A320-series jets per month by 2025.

       Yesterday, Airbus made some adjustments to its production plans, but Faury insisted there’s been “no change of substance” when it comes to the A320. The CEO said he was still assessing whether to commit to 75 a month by 2025.

       Airbus will target a rate of 65 per month on the top-selling narrow-body programme by summer 2023, versus a previous plan to reach 64 in the second quarter of that year. A planned ramp-up of the larger A350 will also come slightly later, with build rates now seen going from five a month to six in early 2023 rather than late 2022.

       The company also set a date to increase production of its A330 widebody, with plans to build almost three planes a month at the end of 2022 from two currently. German airline Condor ordered seven of the model in August.

       Adjusted operating profit was previously seen at €4bil (RM19.23bil) for the year. Free cash flow before mergers and acquisitions and customer financing is expected to hit €2.5bil (RM12.02bil), versus the earlier outlook for €2bil (RM9.62bil), according to a statement. ― Bloomberg