Profits rise for Airbus

Airbus has confirmed it is stepping up production of its aeroplanes as the company announced a rise in its full year profits for 2013.

The company revealed that over the 12 months it recorded a net income that was up by 21 per cent to 3.6 billion euros (£3 billion). In 2013, Airbus delivered a record 626 planes and its revenues rose five per cent to sit at 59.3 billion euros for the year.

Production of the A320 jets is to be increased to 46 planes a month from 42 by 2016 and Airbus stated that it expects to sell around 600 planes again during the course of 2014.

Tom Williams of Airbus said: "Based on the healthy market outlook for our best-selling A320 family and following a comprehensive assessment of our supply chain's readiness to ramp-up, we are ready to go to rate 46 by Q2 2016. With a record backlog of over 4,200 A320 family aircraft … we have a solid case to increase our monthly output to satisfy our customers' requirement for more of our fuel efficient aircraft."

Qatar Airways

In the statement, Airbus confirmed that it will be handing over its first A350 jet to Qatar Airways by the end of the year, indicating the company is continuing to move into new markets.

February has been an outstanding month for Airbus so far, as it recently confirmed that it has won a major order for its planes at the Singapore Airshow. An agreement has been made with UK-based leasing company Amedeo for 20 A380 superjumbo jets worth a total of $8.3 billion.

Mark Lapidus, chief executive of Amedeo, which used to be called Doric Lease Corp, said the A380 superjumbo jets were selected by the company as they offer "on-board space and comfort combination" at the lowest per-seat unit cost.

Group revenues are expected to remain stable at Airbus in the coming 12 months, while the company also stated that it will keep commercial aircraft orders above delivery levels.

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