Airbus has said that it faces a “challenging year” when it released its 1st Quarter update.
The airframer which employs over 6000 people in Wales had anticipated the challenging start to 2016 however it does expect the commercial outlook to improve as the year progresses.
The new orders for the early 2016 were worth £5.6bn compared to £16.35bn for the same period in 2015.
Chief executive Tom Enders said “2016 turns out to be the challenging year we anticipated Overall, we expect a stable financial performance but deliveries, cash and earnings will be heavily loaded towards the end of the year”
He added “Operationally, we continue to focus on the production ramp-ups of our Airbus A350 and A320 programmes and on the change-over to the new engine versions of the A320 and A330”
Airbus has received 10 aircraft orders totalling 32 aircraft including 14 A330 NEO (New Engine Option) and 2 A380’s both of which have their wings made at Broughton in North Wales. In the same period last year they recieved 101.
With Airbus A380 sales practically grinding to a halt, the group is exploring the possibility of revitalising it with an NEO option which has proved popular for the A320 and A330 model range.
Airbus expects to deliver 650 aircraft in 2016.
