Aircraft Business & Finance News

Airbus ends 2019 with $1.4 billion loss

Airbus is reporting a loss of 1.4 billion dollars in 2019. The company’s bottom line was walloped by record fines, retiring the A380, and its struggles with the A400M.

The group announced annual net losses of 1.4 billion dollars. The losses include 3.9 billion dollars in fines related to settling a bribery and corruption investigation with the UK, US, and France. The company lost another 1.3 billion dollars due to problems with its A400M military transport program.

The company lost 219 million dollars on the A380. The losses stacked up after the manufacturer suspended production of the aircraft, which has been unprofitable since its creation.

Throughout its history, Airbus made an estimated investment of about 25 billion dollars in the superjumbo.
The A380 launched in December 2000 with an investment of 10.7 billion dollars in its development.

However, the costs were increasing even before obtaining the certifications of the corresponding authorities. In such a way that the investment was never recouped.

Airbus exceeded 200 net orders during January, mostly single-aisle type. It also has more than 6,000 new orders for narrow-body aircraft on hand.

In 2020, Airbus expects to deliver about 880 commercial aircraft, which would generate a 2% growth compared to what was made in 2019.