Airbus slows production of A380

Airbus announced Tuesday that it was halving production of its A380 superjumbo aircraft to one a month from 2018 to reflect reduced demand.

"In line with the current order intake, Airbus has decided to target 12 A380 deliveries per year from 2018," the European plane-maker said in a statement at the Farnborough Airshow.

The company has received orders of 319 planes from 18 global airlines so far, of which it still has to deliver 126. But the rate of new orders is slowing.

Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier said: "With this prudent, proactive step we are establishing a new target for our industrial planning, meeting current commercial demand but keeping all our options open to benefit from future A380 markets."

He said these markets were viewed as "a given" in an environment of "ongoing aviation growth and constrained airport capacity".

"We are maintaining, innovating and investing in the A380... The A380 is here to stay," Bregier added.

The company said the A380 programme broke even last year with 27 aircraft deliveries, but would achieve that with just 20 planes in 2017, and expected to lower this even further beyond that date.

Dubai's Emirates airline is the biggest client for the A380, operating 81 with another 142 on order.