Airbus Enters Results Week With Delivery Ramp Restored but Supplier Strains Lingering

Airbus heads into first-half results on Wednesday with its delivery machine visibly back in rhythm, even as the supplier bottlenecks that dogged the year's opening months continue to shape how far the European planemaker can push its production ambitions.

The Toulouse group delivered 351 commercial aircraft in the first half, up around 15 per cent on the 306 handed over a year earlier and its strongest January-to-June showing since 2019. Momentum built through the period, with 81 jets in May and 89 in June, the latter to 49 customers. Chief executive Guillaume Faury, speaking at the Farnborough Airshow, said the pace was consistent with the ramp-up trajectory targeted for the year, helped by stabilising engine supply.

The recovery followed a difficult start. First-quarter adjusted operating profit halved to €300 million as constraints from engine maker Pratt & Whitney and a backlog of jets bound for China dragged on output, handing Boeing a temporary delivery edge. Those China handovers have since cleared and engine availability has improved, though analysts note the second-half target remains demanding: reaching official guidance of 870 deliveries requires roughly 519 more aircraft, an average of about 86 a month. Faury is privately understood to be eyeing 900, while leaving formal guidance untouched.

The structural pressures have not vanished. Airbus has warned customers of fresh delays across the A320neo family, potentially stretching into 2028, and on the A350, where the assessment of former Spirit AeroSystems sites revealed underinvestment in tooling and heavier-than-expected staff attrition, issues that could persist toward 2030.

Investors turn to Wednesday's numbers for evidence the H1 pace is sustainable. Airbus maintains full-year guidance of around €4.5 billion in free cash flow before customer financing, with results due at 19:30 CET.