Safran CEO says company on 'good path' to catching up on engine delays

PARIS (Reuters) -The chief executive of Safran said on Monday the French engine maker is "on a good path" towards catching up on engine delays to Airbus by the end of this month.

Asked whether CFM International, jointly owned by Safran and GE Aerospace, would send through enough engines to allow Airbus to meet its 2025 jet delivery targets, Olivier Andries told Reuters: "Airbus has announced they had a very good quarter of deliveries for Q3 and we also had a very good performance in engine deliveries to Airbus in the quarter."

During a telephone interview on separate plans to open a new engine assembly plant in Morocco, Andries noted that Airbus had reported a reduction in the number of planes waiting for engines in September.

"This naturally reinforces our confidence. I have always said that we wanted to catch up on the delays by the end of October and I think we are on a good path," Andries said.    

Airbus said last week it had delivered 507 jets in the first nine months, leaving 313 more airplanes to deliver in the fourth quarter to reach a full-year target of around 820.

The European planemaker said the number of so-called gliders, or otherwise fully assembled aircraft parked on the ground waiting for their engines, had fallen from a peak of 60 announced earlier this year, but did not give a new figure.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Richard Chang)