Airbus // Universal Registration Document 2023

1. Information on the Company’s Activities 1.1 Presentation of the Company

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the demand for air transport began to recover as soon as travel restrictions were lifted. Throughout 2023, the air transport recovery continued strongly, with IATA reporting traffic (RPK) globally at 94.1% of 2019 volumes compared to 68.5% in 2022. Average passenger load factors increased to 82.3%, just short of the record 82.6% achieved in 2019. The abandonment of China’s “Zero-COVID” policy further accelerated the recovery with long-haul markets to/from China continuing their recovery into 2024. The demand for air transport was mainly driven by macroeconomics and demographics while the impact of fuel price and inflationary pressures remained measured. In 2023, geopolitical tensions impacted air transport only mildly, primarily through their indirect macroeconomic effects. The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global air transport has stabilised, despite the application of sanctions to Russian operations and the closure of Russian airspace to the airlines of all countries choosing to apply sanctions. However, tensions in the Middle East could impact air transport if a potential airspace closure were to affect large Middle East hubs. The overall geopolitical situation added pressure on global supply chains and logistics. As more governments adopt a public policy to drive towards a net-zero 2050 carbon emissions aspirational target, aviation will continue to play its part. Decarbonisation is likely to be encouraged by regulatory measures including incentives and taxation to varied extents in different regions. This may increase the differentiation between the costs of operation of more or less fuel-efficient aircraft. Aviation growth has been driven by consistently strong improvements in efficiency, and past increases in fuel prices have been largely passed through to consumers, although regional differences may be observed. Air cargo market On the air cargo market, around 1% of world freight tonne kilometres is carried by air, representing approximately ~30% of the total value of freight. After a period of exceptionally high demand and high yields during the recovery from the pandemic, the air cargo market softened during 2023 and is now driven by the cyclical, and macroeconomic factors typically affecting it. However, it remains close to pre-COVID levels. Belly cargo capacity will return to the market as stored Widebody aircraft re-enter service. Significant numbers of converted freighter aircraft ordered during the pandemic will enter into service, mainly replacing older aircraft. The freighter fleet contains a higher proportion of older aircraft, and consequently future deliveries will be more for replacement than growth. E-commerce growth will continue to be a strong driving force and will take an increasing share of the air cargo market. Short term headwinds include inflation, the strength of the US dollar and trade disruption. Short-term tailwinds include the short-term increase of air freight demand, pricing increases in response to container ship capacity shortage and increased container ship voyage times due to the Red Sea and Panama Canal blockages. Airline network development: “hub” and “point‑to‑point” networks Following deregulation, major airlines have sought to tailor their route networks and fleets to continuing changes in customer demand. Accordingly, where origin and destination demand

prove sufficiently strong, airlines often employ direct “point-to point” route services. However, where demand between two destinations proves insufficient, airlines have developed highly efficient “hub and spoke” systems, which provide passengers with access to a far greater number of air travel destinations through one or more flight connections. The chosen system of route networks in turn affects aircraft demand, as hubs permit fleet standardisation around both smaller aircraft types for the short, high frequency and lower density routes that feed the hubs and larger aircraft types for the longer and higher density routes between hubs, themselves large point-to-point markets. As deregulation has led airlines to diversify their route network strategies, it has at the same time therefore encouraged the development of a wider range of aircraft in order to implement such strategies. Airbus, like others in the industry, believes that route networks will continue to grow through expansion of capacity on existing routes and through the introduction of new routes. These new route markets are expected to be well served by the entire Airbus product offering from the A220 up to the A350. Airbus believes that it is well positioned to meet current and future market requirements given its complete family of products. After the COVID-19 crisis, airlines are reviewing their positioning and business models in the frame of restructuring their operations and preparing their own decarbonisation strategies, including fleet renewal. Airbus expects that existing networks will for the most part be continued, with adaptations building on the opportunities emerging from their forced, temporary downsizing. The availability of new-generation longer-range single aisle aircraft from 2024 onwards, such as the A321XLR, will provide greater optionality to airlines, while the operating range flexibility of Airbus A350 models provide resilience in the face of airspace closures and longer flight routings. Alliances. The development of world airline alliances has reinforced the pattern of airline network development described above. According to data from Cirium, a UK-based aviation industry consultancy, one-third of the world’s jetliner seats being flown today are operated by just 15 airlines. In the 1990s, the major airlines began to enter into alliances that gave each alliance member access to the other alliance members’ hubs and routings, allowing airlines to concentrate their hub investments whilst at the same time extending their product offering and market access. Overall growth of commercial aircraft demand The combination of production disruptions, COVID-19 and its consequences led to approximately ~3,500 fewer new aircraft being delivered over the last five years than industry had previously planned to produce. This led to longer retention of older aircraft in airline fleets, lower short-term rates of replacement and a strengthened demand for the latest fuel-efficient aircraft. The recovery after the pandemic has been following a similar pattern as in past recoveries. A significant part of the stored aircraft returned to service, complementing newly delivered aircraft, and load factors and aircraft utilisation improved, followed by yields. During the recovery, competitive market based financing for new aircraft deliveries has remained available. Currently, the industry faces some imbalance as the shortage of new aircraft has triggered maintenance investment in older aircraft which will stay in service longer until they can be physically

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Universal Registration Document 2023