Airbus Earnings Slide on A350 Costs, A320Neo Engine Holdups

Airbus Group SE’s earnings fell 3.6 percent last year as a late surge in aircraft deliveries failed to offset costs from ramping up output of the A350 twin-aisle model and the impact of engine glitches that curbed handovers of the latest A320 narrow-body. Earnings before interest and tax before one-time items dropped to 3.96 billion euros in 2016 from 4.11 billion euros a year earlier, Toulouse, France-based Airbus said in a statement Wednesday.

Airbus Retains Order Lead Over Boeing With Late Sales Surge

Airbus Group SE booked 320 jetliner orders in December alone to rack up 731 sales for the year, extending its backlog and beating Boeing Co. In the last month of 2016 Airbus sold 98 new planes to Iran Air and 72 to Go Airlines India Pvt., while two other transactions saw 132 narrow-bodies purchased by buyers whose identities weren’t disclosed, according to figures released by the Toulouse, France-based company Wednesday.

Airbus to Slow A380 Production in 2017 in Accord With Emirates

Airbus Group SE will put off a dozen deliveries of the A380 plane in the next two years following an agreement with Emirates, its largest customer for the model, as demand continues to fade for the double-decker. Handovers of six A380s apiece that were originally planned for 2017 and 2018 will be shifted to a year later following an agreement with Emirates and engine supplier Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc, the Toulouse, France-based planemaker said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement.