Airbus plans increase in A220 jet production

Airbus has said it envisages producing 14 of its A220 airliners every month within the next five years.

The wings for the A220 are made at the Spirit AeroSystems plant in Belfast.

The current monthly production rate is five, which Airbus has said will increase to six early next year.

Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury said he expected the commercial aircraft market to recover to pre-Covid pandemic levels between 2023 and 2025.

This year Spirit said it would not make a profit on the A220 programme until annual production rates were about 100, which would mean a monthly rate of eight or nine.

In February chief executive Tom Gentile said he expected that production rate to be reached within three to five years.

'As we see the market recover and air traffic resume, we expect to see the A220 rates get back to where they were projected to be previously.

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"That will also improve the profitability of the programme," he told analysts.

"So, after the three-to-five-year programme, absolutely we expect the A220 to be profitable."

Spirit employs aboutd 3,000 people in Northern Ireland and is central to the region's aerospace industry.