Airbus to scale-down A330 aircraft production

Airbus is planning to reduce production rate of its A330 aircraft to nine per month from the current rate of ten.

The proposed plans come as the European plane maker seeks to focus on the development of A330neo (new engine option) variant, which is scheduled to enter operations from 2017.

Airbus said it would bring down the A330 build rate from the fourth quarter of 2015.

Airbus programmes executive vice president Tom Williams said: "Our role as an aircraft manufacturer is to anticipate and adapt our output to ensure we continue to maintain a smooth production flow for Airbus and for our supply chain.

"With the recent commercial success we’ve seen following the launch of the A330neo, in addition to the new 242t weight variant and the A330 optimised for regional routes, we are confident we will sustain a steady production towards the A330neo ramp-up period."

Launched in July this year, the A330neo has received order commitments for more than 120 airliners to date.

Airbus spokesman was quoted by Reuters as saying that there would be no job losses with the scale down in production as the company is ramping-up production of the A350 jet in parallel.

The A350 is scheduled to enter service by the end of this year with launch customer Qatar Airways.

The European plane maker had sought to maintain A330 production at a steady rate; however, the variant has not achieved much orders in the first nine months of 2014 primarily affected by more-efficient versions, including the Boeing 787 and Airbus’s A350, reported The Wall Street Journal.

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Image: Airbus plans to bring down the A330 build rate from the fourth quarter of 2015. Photo: courtesy of Fixion / Airbus SAS.