Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury stated that the company may prioritize deliveries to non-U.S. customers if Trump's tariffs hinder trade. He also reviewed the company's financial performance for the year: Airbus saw a 6% increase in annual revenue but experienced an 8% decline in adjusted operating profit. The company delivered 766 commercial aircraft but aims to reach a target of 820 by 2025.
Trump's Impact on Airbus?
Despite these numbers, Airbus's focus is increasingly on tariffs. Time is significantly essential since tariffs have already been increased for China. "We have a lot of demand from the rest of the world," Faury emphasized. "If we face significant delivery challenges in the United States, we may need to shift our focus to other eager customers." This serves as a reminder to the White House about the potential implications. Major airlines such as Delta, American Airlines, United, and JetBlue are among Airbus's American customers.
The details of Trump's proposed measure remain unclear. "Those tariffs are looming, and we don't know what they will be, when they will be implemented, or what impact they will have," said Faury. He noted that Airbus has taken steps in recent years to increase its operations in the United States, including purchasing more commercial aircraft and helicopters from there and selling them within the country. For instance, Airbus has a large production facility in Mobile, Alabama, along with two final assembly lines for its A220 and A320 family jets. Additionally, another US assembly line is currently under construction to produce A320s and Az21s for the domestic market.
Airbus' 2024 Results
Airbus reported net profits of €4.232 billion in 2024, representing a 12% increase compared to 2023. The company has proposed a dividend of €2 per share and a special dividend of €1 per share.
In 2024, Airbus generated revenues of €69.23 billion, marking a 6% increase from the previous year. However, adjusted net operating profit (EBIT) fell 8% to €5.354 billion. In contrast, the reported EBIT rose by 15% to €5.304 billion, which includes a negative adjustment of €50 million.
By the end of the year, free cash flow reached €4.461 billion, an increase of 9% from 2023. The net cash position stood at €11.753 billion as of December 30, reflecting a 10% rise compared to the previous year. Additionally, the consolidated order book was valued at €628.917 billion, up 14%, and the company's workforce grew by 6%, reaching 156,921 employees.
CEO Guillaume Faury noted that 2024 was challenging for Airbus, but the company successfully met its forecasts. It focused on increasing production and transforming its Defense and Space division yearly.
With this profit figure, Airbus is nearing its all-time high profit of €4.247 billion in 2022. In 2023, profits decreased to €3.789 billion, primarily due to a weaker Defense and Space division performance, which saw its EBIT drop by 40% over the year.
Looking ahead to 2025, barring any further disruptions and considering the impact of integrating part of Spirit AeroSystems—which is expected to have a neutral effect on both EBIT and cash—the company anticipates delivering 820 commercial aircraft, an increase of 54 compared to this year. Additionally, Airbus aims to achieve an adjusted EBIT of approximately €7 billion, representing a 30.7% increase from this year.
766 Commercial Aircraft Delivered in 2024
In 2024, Airbus nearly reached its target of delivering 770 commercial aircraft, with 766 deliveries (up from 735 in 2023). This includes 75 aircraft from the A220 family, 602 from the A320 family, 32 from the A330 group, and 57 A350s.
The company's sales division generated revenues of €50.646 billion last year, reflecting a 6% increase, mainly due to the higher number of deliveries. Adjusted EBIT for this segment also rose by 6%, reaching €5.093 billion.
Airbus Commercial received 826 orders in fiscal year 2024, significantly less than the 2,094 orders recorded in 2023. The total value of these orders was €77.413 billion, a decrease of 52%, and the order book decreased by 1%, totaling 8,658 aircraft.
In terms of production, Airbus continues to ramp up output for the A320 family, aiming for a rate of 75 commercial aircraft per month by 2027. The company is also stabilizing the monthly production of the A330 to around four jets.
According to Airbus, supply chain challenges—particularly with Spirit AeroSystems—affect production ramp-up for the A350 and A220. For the A350, the company is aiming for a production rate of 12 units by 2028 and has adjusted the entry into service for the freighter variant, which is now expected to occur in the second half of 2027. Meanwhile, for the A220, Airbus continues to target production of 14 aircraft per month by 2026.
Launching a hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft in scheduled service in 2035 is no longer realistic. Airbus continues to work on it, but it will take a few years longer.
For Faury, a hydrogen aircraft is technically feasible. However, there is no point in developing an aircraft that no one will buy because the infrastructure is not available or it is too expensive to operate. From Airbus management's point of view, hydrogen technology is only realistic for smaller passenger aircraft with an estimated 100 seats.