Paris (AFP)

Airbus has made money for the second consecutive quarter but considers that "the market remains uncertain" in the face of a crisis in the aeronautics sector due to Covid-19 which is "not over".

The European aircraft manufacturer announced Thursday "good results" in the first quarter with a net profit of 362 million euros, against a net loss of 481 million a year earlier.

At the same time, its big competitor Boeing, weighed down by production problems, remained in the red for the sixth consecutive quarter, posting a loss of 537 million dollars.

Progress in vaccination and "encouraging signs" of resumption of air traffic in North America or China on the one hand, but uncoordinated strengthening of traffic restrictions in Europe and explosion of the epidemic in India on the other: " the first quarter shows that our sector has not yet overcome the crisis and that the market context remains uncertain ", estimates the executive chairman of Airbus Guillaume Faury, quoted in the press release.

"This translates into a lack of predictability, so we believe that the path to recovery will not necessarily be linear," he explained on a conference call.

If the European aircraft manufacturer delivered 125 commercial planes in the quarter, three more than last year, it therefore remains cautious and maintains its forecasts unchanged for 2021.

It still forecasts a number of aircraft deliveries at least equivalent to that of last year (566 aircraft) and continues to count on an adjusted operating profit of two billion euros.

Resuming deliveries is important because that's when customers pay most of their bill.

- Orders at half mast -

Reflecting a number of aircraft deliveries similar to last year, sales remained stable over the first three months of the year at 10.5 billion euros.

Airbus, on the other hand, tripled adjusted operating profit related to its commercial aircraft activities, to 533 million euros, mainly in favor of cost control and a favorable currency effect.

The group has started to realize savings linked to the workforce reductions of 15,000 positions announced last year and which do not provide for layoffs in France, Germany or Spain, its main countries of operation.

"The full effect of these savings is yet to come," said CFO Dominik Asam.

Sign of an airline sector still in difficulty, the European aircraft manufacturer recorded only 39 aircraft orders in the first quarter, against 356 last year.

And he deplored at the same time 100 cancellations of orders, a consequence of financial difficulties and the lack of prospects of airlines, bled by the fall in global air traffic caused by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Some 10,000 planes were still stored in car parks around the world in March, for just under 22,000 in operation in March, according to the specialist firm Cirium.

"There is still a lot of overcapacity in the market and Iata's forecasts for profitability this year remain negative and deteriorated slightly last month," observed Guillaume Faury.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) now expects cumulative losses of $ 47.7 billion for airlines in 2021, while previously forecasting $ 38 billion in losses over the year.

© 2021 AFP