Airbus to cut production of A320 plane

PARIS: French aeroplane maker Airbus said on Thursday it would cut production of its short-haul A320 aircraft from October and was abandoning plans to ramp up production of two other models.

It said it planned to lower production of the A320 from 36 planes to 34 per month and would hold the production rate of the A330 and A340 planes at 8.5 per month, but said these measures would not affect jobs at the major manufacturer.

"This decision reflects Airbus' current view on market demand in times of airlines adapting their capacities and of continuing uncertainties caused by the worldwide economic crisis," the company said in a statement.

"At this point, no impact on employment is foreseen," it said.

Tom Enders, the chief executive of Airbus, said in the statement: "We reached record production rates in late 2008, but now we see a drop of air traffic in most regions."

He added: "Many airlines are taking capacity out of the market. I do not exclude further production cuts if the need arises."

Airbus is the commercial aircraft subsidiary of the giant European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).