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Airbus has put A350-900 dispatch reliability at 98.5%, and remains confident that it can achieve its delivery target of 50 of the type this year.
Chief executive Fabrice Bregier gave the reliability figure for the in-service fleet over the last three months during a briefing on the sidelines of the Farnborough air show.
He says this level of reliability is “demonstrating the maturity of this aircraft”.
The in-service fleet has increased to 28 A350s following a delivery on 1 July, says Bregier, bringing the total this year to 13.
He points out that the airframer has reached the same level of deliveries in six months that it achieved over the whole of 2015.
“We are making progress, but not yet at the speed we would expect,” he says.
But he adds that he believes the airframer can, over the second half of 2016, deliver the “missing 37 aircraft” which would bring its total to 50.
Bregier says this would put Airbus in a “very good position” to achieve a planned monthly output of 10 A350s in 2018.
He is confident over the ramp-up, claiming the A350 is “easier to assemble” than the A330, and that this points to the industrial process being “under control”.
While the jump from last year’s 14 deliveries to this year’s intended 50 is “more challenging” than expected, says Bregier, the target is “workable” if certain suppliers deliver on “catch-up plans”.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
