Airbus has cut its plane delivery target for this year after it identified a problem with the fuselage panels on its bestselling A320 family of aircraft that has forced it to inspect hundreds of jets.
The world’s largest plane manufacturer said it would now deliver “around 790” commercial aircraft this year, a drop of 30 from its previous target of 820 planes.
Airlines around the world cancelled and delayed flights over the weekend after the French firm ordered immediate fixes to software updates on 6,000 of its A320s, more than half of its global fleet.
While most of the glitches were fixed by Monday, the company then identified separate quality problems on metal panels at the front of some planes.
Reuters reported that a presentation to airlines showed that the total number of planes needing inspections was 628, including 168 already in service, 245 on assembly lines and 215 in an earlier stage of production known as major component assembly.
The affected parts are the wrong thickness, following work carried out by the Seville-based supplier, Sofitec Aero, the presentation showed.
The affected panels are metal skins which are located behind the cockpit, on each side of the two forward doors. There are not thought to be any safety concerns about the panels.
Despite the lower delivery number, Airbus said it was sticking to its previous financial forecast, as it targets a full-year adjusted operating profit of about €7bn (£6.1bn).
When Airbus issued its weekend recall to more than 350 operators, about 3,000 jets in the A320 family were in the air. The setback came just weeks after the A320 became the most-delivered plane model in history, when it overtook Boeing’s 737.
Airbus has struggled with ongoing disruptions to its supply chain in recent months, including delays in deliveries of engines from the US manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, while it has also had to take some planes out of service while they are maintained.
Airbus shares rose by more than 2% on Wednesday morning, but have not yet recouped all of the losses seen in the past week since the software glitch was first reported.
Airbus is due to report its November delivery figures on Friday.
