AIRBUS - 2020 Universal Registration Document
1. Information on the Company’s Activities /
1.1 Presentation of the Company
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resilience and prepare for future investments. As the Company delivers on its strategy as a leader with European roots and global reach, the Company is uniquely positioned to pioneer this industry, deepen the intimacy with its customers, expands its role in Defence, Space and Helicopters whilst delivering shareholder returns in line with market expectations. 4. Lead the Transformation of the Aerospace Industry to Meet Emerging Environmental, Societal and Governance Standards In essence aviation’s licence to grow in the future is linked to sustainability. Improving the environment is at the top of agendas throughout the world. While one may argue for limiting mobility, the Company believes the solution should not hinder connecting and uniting people around the world. Making the world a smaller and more transparent place to live makes it safer and more interesting for all. Discover, learn, share and keep safe are part of basic human needs and a guiding star for the Company. Air travel brings prosperity through the connections it makes. One in ten jobs around the world is in the travel and tourism industry, and aircraft are the veins in this system. Prosperity is required to deliver the climate neutral transformation of the industry. Hence, the purpose of the Company is to find ways to combine travel and uniting people in a sustainable and safe way. On top, social sustainability and good governance are also integral parts and key to manage the Company’s vision for a sustainable future. Airbus’ business is deeply connected with Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ ESG ”) objectives. The Company believes having more to offer society and need to be continuously aware of its broader impacts. 4.1 Lead the Journey towards Clean Aerospace Airbus and the industry at large must ultimately determine ways to eliminate the impact of the aviation industry on climate. This must be achieved by the current generation. It’s expected by the ying public and by society at large. Working with Aviation bodies Airbus strives to set the industry on a strong path to the lowest climate impact solutions as part of its commitment to the Paris Agreement. The Company is rising to the challenge of climate change and targets to significantly reduce the climate impact of the aviation sector. Two main routes are currently followed in parallel to lead the transition of the aviation industry to the lowest climate impact solution. Success in both routes is necessary to reach climate targets. Within Airbus they are named eFuel, sustainable aviation fuel, and ZEROe (zero-emission) through new hydrogen powered aircraft solutions. eFuel . Focus is on how to increase SAF developments as this will play a key role in reducing the environmental footprint of the aviation industry. Production, distribution and ways to make it affordable are all part of this route. The Company has already successfully established SAF ights out of Hamburg with its Beluga transport aircraft since December 2019 and now also introduces SAF in the delivery of aircraft to customers. However, volume and pricing of SAF is still far from where it needs to be today to go mainstream. ZEROe . The Company revealed three concepts for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft in September 2020. These concepts each represent a different approach to achieving zero-emission ight, exploring various technology pathways and
Additionally, as Digital Design, Manufacturing & Services require similar capabilities across aerospace segments, owning a broad portfolio delivers exibility in resource allocation and reuse of investments in core capabilities. It is also vital, as seen in the COVID-19 crisis to have strong and complementary businesses alongside commercial aviation within its portfolio. 1.4 Expand as a Leader Towards New Territories Urban Air Mobility (“ UAM ”) is in the forefront of a revolution to make mobility a three dimensional play in the future. Hence capturing growth in new Ver tical Take-Of f and Landing (“ VTOL ”) / UAM markets on both platforms and services is a major contribution to the helicopter strategy. For defence, the Air and Space power, combining aircraft, unmanned systems and space assets managed with a cloud structure for command and control, will revolutionise performance of Airbus’ customers defence needs. In commercial, the quest towards climate neutral solutions will be the game changer. 2. Leveraging its European Roots while Pursuing a Global Reach through Local Actions In the past 50 years Airbus went from being a cooperation of local aerospace companies in four European countries to a global leader in commercial aerospace with a strong foothold in defence and space. The ability of industrialists in Europe to work together towards a common goal of creating one leading player in commercial aerospace was decisive to the success story of the Company. Such European vision obviously includes the UK as one of its founding countries. No aerospace and defence company is more culturally and humanly diverse than Airbus. About 140 nationalities make up the Company’s workforce and over 20 languages are spoken, re ecting the diversity of its global market and customer base. This is a key strength of the Company in addressing global markets. Airbus has built on its strong European heritage to become truly international – with roughly 180 locations and more than 1,000 direct suppliers globally. The Company has aircraft and helicopters final assembly lines across Asia, Europe and the Americas. 3. Continue to Invest in Airbus’ Future in an Evolving and Highly Competitive Environment through the Right Combination of Growth, Profitability and Resilience Aerospace is a major backbone of the global economy and a vital service to people and businesses. Resilience through having sufficient funds available to withstand the first shock; close cooperation with stakeholders to ensure that the overall travel value chain survives; seamless coordination along the supply-chain to detect issues rapidly; reinforcement of balance sheet to continue investing in future competitiveness; are all core to ensure the industry keeps delivering its purpose to the world economy. The Company believes that the way to remain attractive to investors, employees and society at large is to be at the forefront of innovations and to lead in the global market. This requires discipline on both revenues and the cost base throughout all businesses to gain sufficient volume and profitability to continuously drive the industry forward as a leader. Having successfully increased revenue and profit in recent years, continuous improvement is a must to further support Airbus’
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Airbus / Registration Document 2020
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