Airbus to Cut A380 Output Below One a Month If No New Orders

  • Decision on revised superjumbo build rate due by end of year
  • Planemaker had aimed to hold production at 12 jets a year

An Airbus SAS A380

Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg
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Airbus SE is planning a further cut in build rates for the beleaguered A380 superjumbo airliner amid a continuing dearth of new orders for the 525-seat behemoth.

Airbus is assessing how best to drop output below the 12 planes a year, known as “rate one,” that the company said in July should be sustainable from 2018, the manufacturer’s head of programs said Monday in Cancun, Mexico. A decision will be made before the end of this year in the absence of further sales.