Airbus will not build additional A320 Family aircraft without engines in 2027 in anticipation of higher engine deliveries the following year. Chief Executive Guillaume Faury told the company’s nine-month results call that its production profile for 2026 and 2027 is based on the engines expected from Pratt & Whitney and CFM. The plan does not rule out aircraft being completed ahead of engines; it rejects building extra inventory on the assumption that supply will rise in 2028.
Engine availability remains the pacing constraint for Airbus’s A320 Family ramp-up. Faury said the company would prepare for more aircraft deliveries if suppliers provided additional engines or made a firm commitment to do so. Without that, Airbus has aligned production with the supply it expects, rather than accumulating largely completed aircraft awaiting engines, commonly known as gliders.
Airbus continues to target a monthly A320 Family production rate of 70 to 75 aircraft by the end of 2027, with the rate then stabilising at 75. The engine supply assumptions behind that target are unchanged, Faury said. The company’s results release confirmed the production-rate outlook, while his remarks on the call clarified that Airbus does not intend to build additional glider inventory in 2027 as a buffer for potentially higher 2028 engine deliveries.