Airbus needs 235 deliveries to reach year-end goal, sources say

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) -Airbus delivered 585 airplanes in the first 10 months of the year, industry sources said, leaving a record 235 left to deliver to reach a target of around 820 for the full year.

The cumulative deliveries include 78 jets handed over to airlines in October, they added.

Airbus declined to comment ahead of the release of monthly data on Friday.

CEO Guillaume Faury said last week that deliveries would remain "very backloaded", with a dash to the finish line in the last two months of the year as the company waits for engine shipments.

Airbus had 32 jets assembled and waiting for engines, known in the industry as "gliders", at end-September, he said.

Analysts are increasingly confident that Airbus will reach its annual target after a slow start to the year.

Independent analyst Rob Morris said Airbus was most likely to deliver 800-810 jets, but now "has a shot" at 820 based on the latest data. The role of gliders will be pivotal, he added.

Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie, who estimates 78 deliveries in October, said in a note that first production flights were supportive of the delivery goal. Bloomberg on Monday reported 78 deliveries in October.

INTERNAL ORDER TARGET

However, some industry sources question the cost of a year-end sprint on volumes in the first quarter of next year as engine makers shift focus to assembly lines at the end of the year before prioritising repair shops in the following quarter.

Also in the balance is whether Airbus can hit an internal target of around 1,200 new orders this year, more than twice its nine-month total of 514 net orders, industry sources said.

Much depends on whether Airbus can secure an order for 500 jets from China that it has been negotiating for over a year.

Beijing kept the European planemaker waiting for fresh orders when it inaugurated a new assembly line last month, though industry sources say some of the possible Chinese orders could be finalised before the end of this year.

Airbus is also in talks to secure orders from carriers including Ethiopian Airlines at this month's Dubai Airshow, they said. Airbus declined comment on order discussions or targets. It does not publish targets for orders.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher. Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)