Airbus to raise A320 aircraft production to 42 a month

Airbus, the world’s largest commercial aircraft maker, on Wednesday said it would raise the production rate of its best-selling A320 aircraft by more than 16 per cent in stages to whittle down burgeoning order book.

“With a backlog of over 2,300 A320 Family aircraft, we need to increase production to accommodate continuing strong customer demand for these new eco-efficient aircraft,” said Tom Williams, executive vice-president for programmes, in a statement. The A320 Family includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft.

The European company will increase the production rate to 42 aircraft per month from the fourth quarter of next year, in stages from the current monthly rate of 36. “Currently, Airbus produces 36 A320 aircraft each month that will rise to 38 in August 2011 and to 40 in the first quarter of 2012,” Airbus said in the release.

The production rate for Airbus’ long-range A330 Family is 8.5 per month. It will rise to nine in early 2012 and ten in the second quarter of 2013.

Airbus delivered 510 aircraft in 2010, including 401 A320 Family aircraft. By the end of April, Airbus had delivered 132 A320 Family aircraft, and is well on track to exceed previous years’ deliveries.

It recently introduced a new engine option (neo) for the A320, which will enter into service in October 2015. The A320neo incorporates more efficient engines and large wing tip devices, which together will deliver up to 15 per cent in fuel savings.

Recently, India’s largest low-cost carrier in terms of passengers carried, IndiGo, ordered 180 Airbus aircraft. It had earlier ordered 100 A320 aircraft. Of this, it has taken deliveries of 40 aircraft. Kingfisher Airlines and GoAir also plan to add more A320s in their fleet.

“Over 7,000 Airbus A320 Family aircraft have been sold and more than 4,600 delivered to almost 330 customers and operators worldwide, making it the world’s best selling commercial jetliner ever,” said the Airbus release.