PARIS (Reuters) – French engine maker Safran said on Friday it had yet to be convinced about the case for raising Airbus A320-family jet output towards 70 to 75 a month, despite assurances from the planemaker on Thursday about the industry’s post-COVID outlook.
Chief Executive Olivier Andries said he saw no difficulty in producing enough engines to meet Airbus’ firm target of 65 a month by summer 2023, but voiced fresh doubts about its hopes of going well beyond that. He also noted global labour shortages.
“On the exploration of rates above 65, it is obviously a challenge, and for us the question remains the same – whether such rates can be sustained over the medium term. It is still an open question,” he told reporters.
Safran co-produces one of two types of engine available for the jet along with U.S. partner General Electric.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
