Over the past decade and a half, Airbus has made big moves to gain a serious foothold in the long-haul international market, primarily by pushing forward with the development and service entry process for the incredibly capable Airbus A350XWB (extra-wide body). This aircraft was designed by Airbus to replace the earlier Airbus A380 at the top of its commercial lineup, with a lower passenger capacity but significantly better operating economics, which, at the end of the day, are going to be the principal concern for any prospective operators.
This dynamic, ultra-long-range aircraft has quickly become a favorite among airlines worldwide, with hundreds of orders placed for the type, and it has become one of the company's biggest commercial successes of the past few years. This impressive success is attributable in part to the remarkable engineering of the Airbus A350 itself, as well as the manufacturer's ability to market it exceptionally well to an incredibly diverse array of customers. In this article, we will take a deeper look at the story of the Airbus A350 and evaluate the current production timelines and rates for this impressive widebody jet.
An Overview Of The Airbus A350
The Airbus A350 is a long-range twinjet that applies advanced materials and aerodynamic improvements to significantly reduce aircraft fuel burn and extend the jet's range. An aircraft initially proposed in 2004 as a derivative of the Airbus A330, which was intended to replace the Airbus A380 at the top of the manufacturer's commercial lineup, was reimagined in 2006 as a clean-sheet widebody powered by the unique Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan engines. Airbus later pivoted from this model after it received inadequate market support for the proposal. This prototype first flew on June 14, 2013, and it received certification in September 2014 from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), with the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following suit just a couple of months later.
The jet entered service with Qatar Airways in January 2015, and the Airbus A350-1000 followed suit in February 2018, with the same launch customer. An aircraft constructed initially from carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers, the Airbus A350 operates with a nine-abreast (3-3-3) economy cabin (with some airlines pushing for a 3-4-3) configuration. The jet shares the same type rating as the Airbus A330, making it easy for airlines to integrate the jet into their fleets without requiring significant additional simulator training. The aircraft comes in two different variants, with seating ranging from 300 to 400 seats and one of the longest passenger ranges in the skies.
Today, more than 650 Airbus A350 jets are in service with operators all across the globe. Singapore Airlines is currently the jet's largest operator, with around 65 aircraft in service, while Turkish Airlines stands out as the jet's largest customer with more than 100 of the type on order. The global Airbus A350 fleet has completed more than 1.58 million flights on more than 1,240 routes, transporting more than 400 million passengers all across the globe. The aircraft has yet to experience a fatality related to an airport-safety incident. Today, the aircraft primarily competes with the Boeing 787 and the Boeing 777.
A Deeper Look At The Airbus A350's Development?
The story of the Airbus A350 began as a cautious response to the development of the Boeing 787. After initially downplaying the Boeing 787 and floating an Airbus A330-200-type aircraft to succeed it, Airbus secured its board's approval on December 10, 2004, to fully pursue the development of the Airbus A350. The new model was to be radically different from the Airbus widebodies that came before it, boasting improved wings, aerodynamics, and GEnx engines, but it was not going to be a unique design. Early orders for the type came in from operators like Qatar Airways, but some key lessors and airlines did not order the type.
Only after this became extremely clear to the manufacturer did Airbus reboot the development program in July 2006, with the intention of creating a clean-sheet aircraft with a wider fuselage twinjet design, targeting eight to ten-abreast layouts. The aircraft boasted higher cabin pressure and lower maintenance costs through the extensive use of composites. Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB became the plane's sole powerplant.
Category:
Airbus A350 Specification:
Maximum speed
591 miles per hour
Cruising speed
561 miles per hour
Service ceiling:
43,100 feet (13,100 m)
The program's development costs quickly rose, and delivery timelines slipped backwards as the manufacturer faced some initial trouble locking in core suppliers for different components, such as Thales avionics, Rockwell Collins, and Panasonic IFEC. The aircraft builder quickly expanded its production capabilities across Europe and slowly ramped up to around ten jets per month before the pandemic. The company was forced to significantly slow down production as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, however.
What Does Airbus A350 Production Look Like Today?
As of May 2025, Airbus's A350 production has yet to meet expected forecasts. According to Forecast International, the manufacturer experienced a relatively slow summer, producing only one Airbus A350 in May and gradually ramping up production figures as the summer progressed. The aircraft manufacturer had targeted six A350s per month in 2025, but clearly failed to achieve this objective.
Beyond this output, Airbus' production figures over the summer for widebodies were actually somewhat strong, with the manufacturer managing to deliver three Airbus A330neos that month. Airbus's longer-term ambitions are to increase Airbus A350 output to around ten per month by 2026 and twelve per month by 2028. Still, the resulting figure for May is clearly an outlier of concern to the manufacturer.
Production has slowed somewhat recently due to supply-chain issues, which we will break down in detail in the next section. Supply-oriented bottlenecks have constrained production, but Airbus believes that these issues could be beginning to turn a corner, specifically as supply chains and tariff-related concerns start to ease going into the final quarters of 2025.
What Is Holding Back The Airbus Supply Chain?
The short and obvious answer here is that supply-side friction and changes in program prioritization have rippled all across Airbus's portfolio. The most visible choke points for the airline were with the Airbus A320neo family, where many "glider" aircraft have been parked for months as they are simply awaiting engines. These delays have consumed a significant portion of the large industrial conglomerate's attention, inevitably impacting its widebody production outlook.
While several industry observers have pointed out that the manufacturer's production problems have mostly been related to short-term supply constraints, the manufacturer has been quick to double down on its stabilized target rate of six aircraft per month for the Airbus A350. They acknowledge that the aircraft development program is not yet ready for an incredibly steep climb, but that customers are still seeking improved production rates.
Achieving the aircraft manufacturer's target production rates of ten jets per month by 2026 or 12 jets per month by 2028 is ambitious, but it is undoubtedly what market players and industry analysts expect. An inability to meet these targets will likely result in increased investor scrutiny on the carrier.
What Does The Company's Outlook Look Like From Here?
Deliveries are the most customer-visible metric, and May currently appears to be a month when the manufacturer had relatively weak production. Initial forecasts were for Airbus to deliver 47 jets in May, including four Airbus A350-900s and three Airbus A330-900neos, alongside many Airbus A320neo family narrowbody jets. The gap between the manufacturer producing one A350 and delivering four is the most visible thing in this data, demonstrating that production and deliveries are not moving in lockstep, a key indicator of supply-side pressures.
Airbus hasn't faced as many struggles as Boeing, but its situation has resulted in it certainly underperforming expectations from the start of the year. Production pressures persisted into the summer, with market sentiment clearly supporting a production ramp-up. For now, it is likely in Airbus' best interests to maintain relatively stable production rates for the A350 while gradually expanding its narrowbody production.
At the end of the day, tariffs were certainly a curveball that Airbus had to deal with. Ensuring that the company stays as on track as possible is the best pathway to keeping investors happy.
Why Do Delivery Delays Harm Airbus?
The Airbus A350, specifically, is an aircraft type very vulnerable to delivery delays. There are a few reasons behind this, mostly related to how market players make decisions about which types of jets to order.
Airbus currently commands a price premium in the market, with the Airbus A350 being seen as the best-in-class jet. However, slower delivery timelines make the aircraft much more appealing to customers and incentivize them to pursue competitor aircraft instead.
As a result, keeping Airbus A350 production on schedule is critical for Airbus to achieve its long-term objectives. If the manufacturer wants to make sure that it is selling as many A350s as possible, it is in its best interest to try to keep ramping up production.
Airbus
Stock Code AIR
Business Type Planemaker
Date Founded December 18, 1970
CEO Guillaume Faury
Headquarters Location Toulouse, France
Key Product Lines Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Airbus A380
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