Paris (AFP)

Airbus saw its activity take off again in the first half of the year and achieved a "solid performance" despite the health crisis which continues to hit the airline sector, allowing it to significantly raise its targets for aircraft deliveries and profit for 2021.

The European aircraft manufacturer on Thursday published a net profit of 2.2 billion euros after two semesters in the red thanks to large deliveries of planes compared to last year.

The European aircraft manufacturer delivered 297 aircraft between January and June against 196 last year.

Companies pay most of the bill for their planes when they take possession of them.

As a result of this good performance of deliveries, the overall turnover of Airbus jumped 30% to 24.6 billion euros.

It even climbed 42% for commercial aircraft, while that of Airbus Helicopters rose 11% and that of defense and space activities remained stable.

These results were greeted by the market at the opening of the Paris Stock Exchange, the Airbus share price rising 4%.

Its big competitor Boeing has also returned to the green after six quarters of losses, but the American manufacturer only posted a net profit of $ 6 million in the first half and delivered 156 aircraft.

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“The Covid-19 pandemic is not yet behind us” but “we are starting to see an improvement in the market environment and a certain increase in air travel,” said Airbus Executive Chairman Guillaume Faury during the 'a conference call.

Grounded by the health crisis, global air traffic in June remained 60% below the level of the same month of 2019, but domestic routes were only down 22%, according to the International Transport Association. aerial (Iata).

Since the start of the crisis, the European aircraft manufacturer has displayed its caution while being proactive.

Thus, if "the recovery will be strewn with pitfalls" according to Guillaume Faury, Airbus clearly raises its objectives for 2021.

It now intends to deliver 600 planes over the year while it had hitherto expected a figure equivalent to that of 2020 (566), considered conservative by most analysts.

- Increased pace -

It also forecasts free cash flow of € 2 billion and operating profit of € 4 billion, double its previous target.

The latter was 2.7 billion euros in the first six months of the year alone.

The aircraft manufacturer is preparing above all for a significant ramp-up in its production, counting on a strong recovery in demand from airlines eager to renew their fleets once the crisis has passed.

Airbus, which currently produces 40 A320 Family single aisles per month, will increase in the fourth quarter to 45 monthly aircraft.

It has informed its suppliers that it will increase to 64 planes per month by mid-2023, more than it has ever produced, and that it plans to increase to a rate of 75 planes per month by 2025. .

Sign of an airline sector for the time being still in difficulty, the European aircraft manufacturer however recorded only 165 aircraft orders in the first half of the year for 127 cancellations.

This does not seem to worry his boss, "happy to have a positive net balance of orders in the first half" and to see "some recovery" in orders.

The German airline Condor announced Wednesday the purchase of 16 wide-body A330 neo.

Airbus' order book of 6,925 aircraft, including 5,666 of the A320 family, guarantees it many years of production.

However, the group intends to remedy a weakness compared to its American competitor: its board of directors has approved the launch of a cargo version of the widebody A350, intended to compete with the Boeing 767 and 777 freighter.

The global air cargo sector is the only one currently surpassing its 2019 level.

With entry into service scheduled for 2025, the A350 cargo will be the only aircraft dedicated to freight to meet the new environmental standards that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) must put in place three years later, according to Mr. Faury.

© 2021 AFP