PARIS: Airbus tentatively aims to deliver as many as 80 A350 jetliners in 2017, two people familiar with the plans said.
The target marks a new stage in ambitious plans to raise output of the company’s newest long-haul jet to 10 a month in 2018, but depends mainly on how successful suppliers will be in curbing delays in cabin equipment.
An Airbus spokesman declined to comment on the provisional thinking on deliveries for 2017, which would equate to production of just under 7 aircraft a month. Airbus is expected to give details of its 2017 delivery plans in February.
Speaking at an event to mark the first flight of the large A350-1000 variant, Airbus planemaking chief Fabrice Bregier said he was more optimistic than before about reaching a target of at least 50 A350 deliveries in 2016.
Airbus delivered the 35th airplane of the year on Thursday.
At the same time, Airbus aims to swiftly increase deliveries of the smaller A320neo, which have been held back by delays in the supply of engines from US-based Pratt & Whitney.
Programmes chief Didier Evrard said on Thursday the supply chain had improved but remained under scrutiny.
Also key to the ramp-up is the amount of outstanding work that needs to be done later in the assembly process than scheduled, a drag on time and costs that is often caused by missing or defective parts.
Bregier said on Thursday the amount of A350-900 outstanding work had fallen to a “low level.”
Airbus plans to deliver the first of the larger A350-1000 variant “hopefully a bit less than year from now,” well within the target of second-half 2017, following an accelerated program of flight tests, Bregier told reporters.
It aims for just under 12 months of flight tests, compared with 14.5 for the earlier A350-900 model.
Airbus says the A350-1000 will be 25 percent cheaper to operate than the competing Boeing 777-300ER, an older aircraft which weighs more but which has more seats in some layouts.
Boeing has responded to the A350-1000 by developing an even larger version of 777 able to seat over 400 people, making it the largest twin-engined jet when it enters service in 2020.
Airbus is also considering whether to go up in size with a further stretch of the A350, but senior marketing vice president Francois Caudron said it did not currently deem this necessary.
Industry sources say Airbus is nonetheless offering the potential “A350-2000” to influential buyers including Singapore Airlines and British Airways.
Such a jet would need an enhancement of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine that powers the A350-1000, already one of the industry’s largest with a fan case large enough to swallow the fuselage of the now defunct Concorde.
Chris Young, programs director at the embattled UK engine manufacturer, which is in the midst of restructuring, said it would always be ready if needed to upgrade its engines or add new ones according to the needs of airplane manufacturers.
Airbus hopes to deliver up to 80 A350 aircraft in 2017
Airbus hopes to deliver up to 80 A350 aircraft in 2017
Kuwait PMI climbs to 54.5; Egypt falls to 48.9 in February: S&P Global
RIYADH: Kuwait’s non-oil private sector continued to expand in February, supported by growth in output and new orders, while business conditions in Egypt weakened, an economy tracker showed.
According to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index surveys released by S&P Global, Kuwait’s PMI rose to 54.5 in February from 53 in January, extending the current run of improving business conditions to a year and a half.
The expansion in Kuwait’s non-oil sector aligns with a broader trend across the Gulf Cooperation Council region, where countries are pursuing diversification strategies to reduce reliance on crude revenues.
The surveys were conducted before regional tensions escalated following US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks across the Gulf, which have since disrupted markets and energy trade.
Commenting on the February survey, Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “Growth momentum strengthened in Kuwait’s non-oil private sector in February as companies were again successful in securing new business.”
According to the report, key factors supporting expansions in new orders and business activity included the provision of good-quality products at competitive prices and successful marketing efforts.
The rate of job creation was modest in February and unchanged from January.
Firms continued hiring staff for advertising and project-related work, resulting in a twelfth consecutive monthly increase in employment.
“The main issue facing firms at present is being able to grow workforce numbers quickly enough to keep up with workloads,” said Harker.
He added: “With backlogs rising at a fresh record pace for three months in a row now, fulfilling customer requirements in a timely manner is becoming more difficult, although companies did expand their purchasing activity at a near-record pace in February to help make sure the necessary materials are available going forward.”
Overall input cost inflation hit a nine-month high in February, with both purchase prices and staff costs rising at faster rates compared to January.
The report added that some companies increased their selling prices in response to higher input costs.
Regarding the outlook, companies expressed optimism, with sentiment reaching a 26-month high in February, driven by product variety, competitive pricing and good-quality customer service.
Egypt’s non-oil sector contracts
Egypt’s non-oil private sector contracted in February, driven by rising costs and softer demand, according to S&P Global.
The country’s PMI fell to 48.9 in February from 49.8 in January.
Although the reading remained below the 50 neutral threshold, it was still above its long-run average of 48.3, the report said.
Output declined for the first time in four months in February, and all five sub-components of the PMI indicated weaker business conditions compared to January.
“The February PMI data pointed to a slowdown in the Egyptian non-oil private sector as activity curtailed and new order volumes weakened,” said David Owen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
That said, he added that the dip followed an unusually strong run in business performance, and that the latest figures are consistent with annual GDP growth of approximately 4.5 percent.
Egyptian non-oil companies also reported a decline in order book volumes during the month.
Sales fell across manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and services, while construction was the only monitored sector where new orders improved.
Employment fell for the third consecutive month in February, though at a slower rate, as companies continued active job cuttings and hiring freezes.
The report revealed that cost pressures accelerated across the month, driven by rising global commodity prices, particularly oil and metals.
Selling prices, however, were up only fractionally, with just a small proportion of firms choosing to pass cost increases onto their customers.
“Egyptian non-oil companies were notably exposed to the uplift in global commodity prices, with firms emphasising the impact of higher prices for oil and metals, resulting in the sharpest increase in business costs for nine months and hitting margins at a time when firms are reluctant to raise their selling prices,” said Owen.
He concluded: “Firms will therefore be keen to see commodity markets settle, especially as recent periods of high input cost inflation have typically constrained business output.”
