By Bjorn Fehrm

July 31, 2025, © Leeham News: Airbus CEO Guillame Faury and CFO Thomas Toepfer presented the Airbus first half 2025 results yesterday. The Airbus performance is very much to plan, except there are 60 A320/A321 gliders standing on the aprons, missing engines.

“The lion’s share of these engines are CFM LEAPs, but Pratt & Whitney GTFs are also missing,” said Faury. “Our plan, supported by the engine OEMs, is to be at zero gliders by year-end”.

Except for delivering 60 A320/A321 less than planned, Airbus is executing to plan. “We are on plan with A320/A321 production. Finished airframes are standing waiting for engines,” continued Faury. “Overall, our divisions are on track with their actions and deliveries during the first half of 2025. Our guidance for 2025 is unchanged”.

Group-level results

Revenue for 1H2025 was €28.8bn (€29.6bn 1H2024), and EBIT Adjusted (mapping operational achievements) was €1.4bn (€2.2bn 1H2024). The decline in revenue and EBIT is due to the 60 aircraft that were not delivered in 1H2025.

The free cash flow for 1H2025 was -€1.6bn (-€0.5bn), once again reflecting the glider effect. The net cash position at the end of 1H2025 was €7.0bn, with total liquidity at €30bn.

Guidance for 2025 was unchanged at:

• Airbus targets 820 commercial aircraft deliveries.
• Airbus expects an EBIT Adjusted of €7.0bn.
• Free Cash Flow of €4.5bn.

The free trade agreement for civil aircraft between the EU and the US has addressed the threat of tariffs on these deliveries to the US.

Commercial aircraft

Commercial aircraft had net orders of 402 aircraft (310). The backlog is now at 8,754 (8,585) aircraft.

Of the 306 (323) delivered aircraft, 41 were A220, 232 A321/A320, 12 A330, and 21 A350.

The targeted delivery rates are unchanged at 14 for A220 in 2026, 75 A320/A321s in 2027, 12 A350s in 2028, and now 5 A330s in 2029 (was a steady four from now on).

The 60 A320/A321 standing without engines comes from GE’s blade yield problems from early 2025, followed by an eight-week strike at SAFRAN’s CFM final assembly line in Villaroche, France. It put CFM on the back foot regarding LEAP deliveries, which it will take until 4Q2025 to fix. Pratt & Whitney GTFs have slipped behind in the last months as well, once again due to a three-week Final Assembly Line strike in Connecticut in May.

The ramp-up in rate of the A350 is stressed by the carve out of Airbus activities from Spirit Aerosystems, but Airbus says it is already working with the A350 mid-section entities to improve production. The carveout will finish in 4Q2025 as the Boeing takeover takes longer than planned (Airbus can’t finish its part until Boeing’s takeover is completed).

Helicopters

The Airbus helicopter had delivery and services revenue of €3.7bn (€3.2bn) and EBIT adjusted of €249m (€ 230 m).

Defense and Space

Defense and Space has a growing Military market, as European defense spending is increasing. The 1H2025 revenue increased by 16.6% to €5.8 bn (€5.0 bn). EBIT Adjusted was €265m (-€807m).

Work with Thales and Leonardo to merge the Space segments is progressing to plan.