Paris (AFP)

Airbus revised Wednesday downward its forecasts of aircraft deliveries for 2019, reflecting the difficult rise in the rate of production of the aircraft manufacturer in the face of its commercial success.

The automaker plans to deliver "around 860 commercial aircraft" in 2019, while it predicted "880 to 890" deliveries this year, the group said in a statement.

In the first nine months of the year, Airbus delivered 571 aircraft, compared with 503 over the same period last year. But he faces difficulties especially in the ramping up of production of the A321 ACF which "remains ambitious", he says.

Last year, problems with the maturity of the Pratt & Whitney engines and difficulties with the Leap designed by Safran and General Electric within their joint venture CFM International slowed deliveries. Added to this is the production of the A321, especially in its ACF version, more complex to produce than an A320, and which Airbus intends to increase the share in the production of single-aisle.

"The current situation needs to be improved," Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury agreed during a conference call, acknowledging that it was "very difficult to recover the delay".

"We are focusing our efforts on ramping up the A320neo and improving the industrial flow, while managing in particular the complexity of the A321 ACF," he said earlier in a statement.

The objective of Airbus, which is still targeting a monthly rate of 63 units of the A320 family in 2021, is to "secure a more efficient flow of deliveries in the coming years". The Airbus share lost 1.99% to 123.26 euros at the beginning of trading on the Paris Stock Exchange.

Airbus is however very good face against his competitor Boeing capped by his 737 MAX, immobilized on the ground for seven months.

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The European aircraft manufacturer announced Tuesday the signing of a record contract of 300 aircraft of the family A320 for the Indian company low cost IndiGo, and indicates to have recorded 127 net orders in the first nine months of the year, against 256 l last year.

Its order book reached 7,133 aircraft by September 30 and the A350 program, its last long-haul, "is about to reach its break-even point over the year," says the group.

The downward revision of planned deliveries, however, led Airbus to downgrade its free cash flow to "approximately € 3 billion", a quarter less than before.

The adjusted operating profit (EBIT) forecast remains unchanged, however, with an expected increase of 15% for 2019.

In the third quarter, the European group posted a net profit up 3% in the third quarter, to 989 million euros (+ 50% over the first nine months of the year to 2.186 billion euros).

Its operating profit (EBIT) declined by 14% (+ 2% adjusted), suffering in particular from negative "adjustments" amounting to € 266 million.

The latter is due to the freeze on arms sales by Germany to Saudi Arabia which were extended until March 2020, at the cost of the A380 program, which Airbus announced in February the end of production, and to payment differences before delivery in dollars.

Sales in the third quarter were $ 15.3 billion (-1%). The Defense and Space division saw its activity jump 12% to 2.69 billion euros.

Cash expenses for the chaotic "A400M military transport aircraft program" are "falling" but "are not going down at the pace," notes Airbus.

The boss of Airbus has also reiterated its opposition to tariffs imposed by the United States against the EU with the endorsement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in retaliation for subsidies granted to Airbus.

If the elements delivered to the Airbus factory in Mobile, Alabama (south) are not affected, planes built in Europe for US companies are taxed at 10%, "which seriously affects our US customers" a- he lamented, calling for a "negotiated solution before creating serious damage for the aviation industry and the global economy".

© 2019 AFP