The aviation giant Airbus is not able to absorb the strong demand from the aviation sector. The activity of airlines around the world has recovered so strongly that the company does not have the capacity to cope with the number of orders it receives. Even so, production does not reach pre-covid levels, so its managers are cautious.
Airbus is carrying out an increase in its production in all its centers. Also in Spain, where excess demand is impacting its activity. The five industrial centers (Illescas, Getafe, Puerto Real, Albacete and Tablada) are working at full capacity building airplanes and helicopters.
Airbus has two types of aircraft, its main activity. The ones that are most in demand are the single aisle ones, the A320. The company, explains its president in Spain, Alberto Gutiérrez, currently builds 55 airplanes per month. “We want to increase production and build 75 aircraft per month in 2026,” adds the top manager. In the case of twin-aisle aircraft, Airbus currently builds six A350s each month. The goal is to reach a dozen by 2026. The company, finally, has the capacity today to build three A330 aircraft and next year it hopes to increase to four.
Aircraft manufacturers are finding themselves with an increasingly large population that wants to fly, to which must be added the enormous demand that will come from emerging countries, such as India, where a large volume of citizens will become middle class in the coming years. In addition, airlines are carrying out renewal processes for their fleets. According to Airbus, 50% of the aircraft fleet will have to be renewed in the coming years. This cocktail makes aviation face a golden age in the next decade, barring unforeseen events.
But not everything is good news for the sector at this time. The president of Airbus explains that the problems of 2022 in the supply chain have not yet been solved. Steel, microchips, titanium... The arrival to Europe of essential elements in the construction of an airplane is not normalized, Gutiérrez details. Airbus detects problems in 3,000 direct and 15,000 indirect suppliers, which offers a broad view of the scope of the problem that the manufacturer still has to face. Engine manufacturers, also essential for Airbus, have also not been able to normalize their production, the giant points out.
Financing problems for small and medium-sized suppliers also hamper Airbus production. According to its chief executive, there are SMEs that the manufacturer works with that had to receive financial help during the pandemic and have not yet recovered normality. Airbus has decided to help these companies essential for their production from a financial point of view, says Gutiérrez.
Airbus has more than 130,000 employees worldwide. In Spain alone there are almost 13,000. Globally, the workforce increased by 7,000 workers in 2022. In 2023 it will close with 13,000 new positions, which gives an idea of the challenge faced by the leading aircraft manufacturing company that has also just flown its first device with 100% ecological fuel, known as SAF.
Airbus also stands out for its military branch, currently focused on important projects. This week, the Ministry of Industry granted the company two loans of almost 3.2 billion at zero cost so that the multinational could develop two important weapons programs. One of them is the Eurofighter, the combat fighter that the Ministry of Defense plans to buy to renew the old F-18s that operate on the Peninsula. Airbus expects this million-dollar contract to be closed next year.
The company has also signed this week with the Government the acquisition of 27 Sirtap drones for surveillance and intelligence and capable of carrying weapons. Both parties are negotiating the acquisition of new maritime patrol aircraft. And he is already working on the FCAS, the future European combat aircraft project in which Indra also participates. Airbus already has a team of 100 engineers working at its Getafe facilities.
