Airbus Faces Drop in 2002 Production

No. 2 airplane maker Airbus said Monday that production next year will be about 25% below its target before the Sept. 11 attacks led to a decline in air travel.

Airbus expects to produce 300 to 320 planes next year, Chief Executive Noel Forgeard said at the Dubai air show. It had expected to make 390 aircraft, compared with a target of 320 this year.

British Airways, Singapore Airlines and other carriers are putting off plane purchases, which may cause the first decrease in production at Airbus since 1994. Boeing Co., its bigger rival, expects to deliver as few as 350 airliners next year, down one-third from an earlier forecast.

Airbus said it had orders for 351 planes this year. That figure includes an order for 25 aircraft by Dubai-based airline Emirates, announced Sunday.

Airbus had already cut its production estimates once since the U.S. attacks, to about 330 planes.

Randy Baseler, Boeing’s vice president of marketing for commercial airplanes, said at the Dubai air show that the company will make 522 planes this year, down from 538, and that it expects a “further reduction” in 2003 from next year’s number.

Emirates said at the show Sunday that it plans to spend about $15 billion for 43 planes from Airbus and 25 from Boeing in a bid to become the Middle East’s biggest carrier. It announced 18 new orders.

The carrier said it expects to buy 22 of Airbus’ planned 550-seat A380 super-jumbo jets, with an option for 10 more, as well as three 250-seat A330s. It also might buy eight 380-seat A340-600s, currently Airbus’ biggest plane. Emirates signed a letter of intent to buy 25 of Boeing’s 777s.