Airbus says it has capacity to raise A350 production

Paris

AIRBUS said on Wednesday that it had the capacity to push the production of its A350 planes above its targeted level of 10 aircraft a month, as its main rival Boeing also prepares to step up some of its own production output. "We are sticking by our target to increase A350 production to 10 per month by the end of 2018 and we have the industrial capacity to go higher," said an Airbus spokesman.

He was speaking after aerospace publication Leeham News said Airbus was preparing to push up the output of its new wide-body jet to 13 a month, perhaps by as early as 2019. He declined to comment on when, or by how much, Airbus could increase the production. Airbus has said that it has delivered 50 A350 aircraft so far this year.