Airbus // Universal Registration Document 2023
1. Information on the Company’s Activities 1.1 Presentation of the Company
Products The Family Concept – Commonality across the Fleet Airbus’ aircraft families promote fleet commonality. This philosophy takes a central aircraft and tailors it to create derivatives to meet the needs of specific market segments. For example, both variants of the A220 have a significant level of common parts and can be operated by a single pilot pool. Alternatively, the A320, A330, A350 and A380 all share the same cockpit philosophy, fly-by-wire controls and handling characteristics, enabling pilots to transfer among these aircraft within the Airbus family with minimal additional training. Cross‑crew qualification across families of aircraft supports airlines with operational flexibility. In addition, the emphasis on fleet commonality permits aircraft operators to realise significant cost savings in crew training, spare parts, maintenance and aircraft scheduling. The extent of cockpit commonality within and across families of aircraft is a unique feature of Airbus that, in management’s opinion, constitutes a sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, technological innovation has been at the core of Airbus’ strategy since its creation. Each product in the Airbus family is intended to set new standards in areas crucial to airlines’ success, such as cabin comfort, cargo capacity performance, economic performance, environmental impact and operational commonality. Airbus innovations often provide distinct competitive advantages, with many becoming standard in the aircraft industry. A220 Family. Complementing the A320 Family, the A220-100 and A220-300 models cover the segment between 100 and 150 seats and offer a highly comfortable five-abreast cabin. With the most advanced aerodynamics, carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials, high-bypass Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines and fly-by-wire controls, the A220 delivers 25% lower fuel burn per seat compared with previous generation aircraft. In addition to the airliner versions, 2022 saw the first delivery of the ACJ TwoTwenty business jet, based on the A220-100, combining an intercontinental capability of over 12 hours flight duration with unmatched personal space and comfort (outfitting of the first cabin was completed in 2023). Airbus manufactures, markets and supports A220 aircraft under the Airbus Canada Limited Partnership agreement ( q.v. ) finalised in 2018. In 2020, Airbus delivered the first US-assembled A220-300 aircraft from Mobile, Alabama. Primary competitors to the A220 Family are the Embraer EMB190-E2 and EMB195-E2 and the Boeing 737 Max 7. During 2023, Airbus received 142 gross orders for the A220 Family of aircraft and 141 net orders, with 68 aircraft having been delivered.
responsible for the A220, to 75% for Airbus and 25% for the Government of Québec respectively. The Government’s stake is redeemable by Airbus in 2026 – three years later than before. As part of this transaction, Airbus, via its wholly owned subsidiary Stelia Aerospace, acquired the A220 and A330 work package production capabilities from Bombardier in Saint-Laurent, Québec. The partnership brings together two complementary products, the A220-100 and A220-300, targeting the 100-150 seat market segment with an addressable market of at least 7,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years in the segments in which they compete. Airbus Canada benefits from Airbus’ global reach, scale, procurement organisation and expertise in selling, marketing and producing the A220. Significant production efficiencies are anticipated by leveraging Airbus’ production ramp-up expertise. In August 2019, Airbus started manufacturing the A220 also in Airbus’ facility in Mobile, delivering its first US-assembled A220 300 aircraft in October 2020. In December 2022, the Chinese manufacturer COMAC delivered the first C919 airliner, a direct competitor to the A320neo. By end 2023, three aircraft were in service with launch customer China Eastern. In late 2023, COMAC showed concepts for shorter and longer-fuselage variants of the C919 but without providing firm timelines, and reaffirmed their ambition to develop the C929 Widebody in the early 2030s. This ends the period of a duopoly in the mainline commercial aircraft market. Airbus considers that COMAC’s progression will be measured, determined, and paced by their industrial ramp-up as well as the time needed to build a reputation for reliability and support. Consequently, Airbus considers the likely market penetration of this competitor to be a more significant risk in the 2030s. Customers As of 31 December 2023, Airbus had 446 customers and a total of 23,795 aircraft had been ordered, of which 15,197 aircraft had been delivered to operators worldwide. The net backlog stood at 8,598 aircraft. The table below shows Airbus’ largest commitments in terms of total gross firm orders by customer during the year 2023 (minimum 50 units).
Customers
Firm orders (1)
INDIGO
500 250 234 157 120
AIR INDIA
TURKISH AIRLINES
EASYJET AVOLON WIZZ AIR
75 73 60 60 55 50
QATAR AIRWAYS UNITED AIRLINES
SMBC AVIATION CAPITAL
LUFTHANSA
AIR FRANCE – KLM Group
(1) Options are not included.
40 Airbus Annual Report
Universal Registration Document 2023
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