Airbus COO Customers Leahy pushes hard internally to raise production rates for the A350-1000.

Airbus will decide whether to raise production rates for the A350-1000 later this year, according to Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy. “I would like to see more -1000s built,” Leahy said on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting in Cape Town.

Leahy pointed out that he has seen a strong rise in demand for the largest member of the A350 family recently and that he is pushing hard internally for Airbus to increase production rates.

At the same time, Leahy insisted that Airbus will build the smaller -800, for which demand has been very low. “There will always be an -800”, but his priority has clearly shifted to the -1000 as airlines are now tending to buy bigger aircraft.

Leahy discarded the possibility of Airbus eventually offering an even larger version of the A350 because a double stretch of the -900 would risk losing a lot of its capabilities. He pointed out the failure of the Boeing 767-400 as one example where a double stretch has not worked.


Based on the article “Airbus Looks At Higher A350-1000 Output” published in Aviation Week.