Airbus SE (AIR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Airbus Event Center. We appreciate you joining us today for the annual press conference, where we'll present and discuss the results for 2025. Many thanks to all of you, and to everyone following online today. I'm Guillaume Steuer. I handle external communications and media relations for Airbus. With me to present the results are Guillaume Faury, our CEO, and Thomas Toepfer, our CFO. Guillaume will begin today by sharing a few highlights about last year, 2025, and then Thomas will give you more detail on our financials. Finally, Guillaume will again discuss our outlook and priorities for 2026. After that we'll move on to our Q&A session, which those of you following online can also take part in by submitting questions using the Live-e tool. As always with these things, this entire conference is going to be in English and there will be no simultaneous translations. Now, ladies and gentlemen, just as usual, please familiarize yourselves with our safe harbor statement, which you can now see on your screens. Please remember that in this conference, all forward-looking statements, such as in our guidance, are based on assumptions, and as conditions may change, may our projections and plans.

Ahead of passing things to Guillaume for his 2025 overview, we wanted to show you one more brief video that we feel highlights several of team Airbus's major accomplishments in 2025. I hope you like watching it as much as the teams liked assembling it. We'll rejoin you shortly once the video finishes. Guillaume, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Guillaume. Two Guillaumes up on the stage. Thanks, and good day to all of you. We appreciate your presence with us in Toulouse as well as those joining online. As that video made clear, the past year proved colorful and full of excitement. 2025 was genuinely a landmark year, defined by extremely robust demand for what we offer in products and services throughout every business, in civil as well as defense. We steered through a complicated, fast-moving global landscape, with our main priority being handling supply chain constraints that produced a disconnect — a desynchronization — between production and delivery across the year. In commercial aircraft, we kept widening our industrial footprint to underpin our production ramp-up. We finished acquiring certain Spirit AeroSystems work packages, with closing on the 8th of December, and we inaugurated new final assembly lines for the A320 in the US and in China. Looking ahead, the engine shortage from Pratt & Whitney will mean our continued emphasis this year on protecting our delivery trajectory. I'll return to that point shortly. Our Helicopter division turned in a robust performance on programs and on growth in services. That holds on the civil side, where we keep our leadership position, and on the defense side, where our market share is expanding.

And wrapping up with Defense and Space, the division's transformation is now paying off, and we're seizing the momentum from higher defense spending both in Europe and around the globe. All in all, the Airbus team performed exceptionally in 2025. We honored our commitments, hitting the updated guidance we had set, with 793 commercial aircraft handed over. That showed how we pulled together as a group despite unrelenting and major headwinds affecting our supply chain and the wider global landscape. Taken together, this produced a robust financial result for 2025: a record EBIT adjusted of €7.1 billion and a record net income of €5.2 billion, which back our 2025 dividend proposals of €3.2 per share. Thomas will walk you through our 2025 financials in more detail shortly. Let's now dig a bit deeper into our commercial aircraft business. We already published our 2025 orders and deliveries last month, so I'll move through the figures quickly. As I mentioned, altogether we handed over 793 aircraft to 91 customers, which works out to a year-on-year rise of 4%. The A320 panel quality issue that arose at the end of 2025 was a major event that strained our capacity to deliver in a year that was already backloaded. We moved immediately to tackle the problem, placing a heavy emphasis on quality, and as a result this unfortunately weighed on our 2025 deliveries.

Throughout the year, we secured repeat business as well as important new customers across both single-aisle and widebody campaigns, recording 1,000 gross orders, and we closed 2025 with a record backlog of 8,754 aircraft. In 2025, we handed over 607 aircraft from the A320 family, and we booked 656 gross orders, lifting the A320 family backlog to 7,163 aircraft. The A321XLR, the newest member of that family, likewise kept drawing in new customers. Nearly 39 years ago to the day — on the 22nd of February 1987, in fact — the A320 performed its maiden flight. Last year, it officially became the most delivered commercial aircraft of all times. We saw that on the video. I can't resist taking a second to honor the Airbus pioneers who made it possible and to thank the customers who have turned it into such a global success. Turning to another innovative single-aisle aircraft, on the A220, we delivered 93 aircraft in 2025, representing an increase of around 25% year-on-year, and we booked 49 new orders. So, 93 A220s, 607 A320s, that makes 700 single-aisle, and then again 93 for the widebodies makes 793. On the widebodies, we delivered 36 A330s and 57 A350s. Looking at orders on the A350, on the A330, sorry, we booked 102 gross orders in another strong year confirming the high demand for this versatile aircraft.

Regarding the A350, we booked 193 gross orders, which supports solid commercial momentum. The A350 freighter variant also had a strong year, with 28 new gross orders. Now, turning to the detailed production ramp-up plans for each program: for the A220 family, ramp-up is continuing, paced by integrating Spirit AeroSystems work packages and by the balance between supply and demand. As we keep making tactical adjustments along this ramp-up trajectory, we are now targeting a rate of 13 aircraft a month in 2028. For the A320 family, Pratt & Whitney's failure to commit to the number of engines ordered by Airbus is hurting this year's guidance and this year's ramp-up trajectory. Consequently, we now expect to reach a rate of between 70 and 75 aircraft a month by the end of 2027, stabilizing at rate 75 thereafter. On the A330, nothing has changed, and we continue to target rate 5 in 2029. There is also no change on the A350, where we continue to target rate 12 in 2028. Helicopters: 2025 was an outstanding year for Helicopters, which delivered 392 units, 31 more than in 2024. We booked 536 net orders compared to 415 in 2024, with a book-to-bill well above 1 both in units and value, including a strong contribution from the military segment and a good order intake from services.

Positive momentum remains evident, especially across military markets. Among the standout deals was an order for 100 helicopters placed by the Spanish Ministry of Defence — the biggest helicopter purchase that customer has ever made. The Super Puma family continued to perform strongly in the market, with a significant contract signed in the second half of the year covering 10 H225Ms for the Royal Moroccan Air Force. In addition, the German Armed Forces strengthened their commitment by converting options into firm orders for 20 more H145M military helicopters. The division's drone lineup also posted notable wins, with contracts for the Flexrotor small tactical unmanned air system and for the larger VSR700 system — a 700-kilogram unmanned rotorcraft visible in the picture — which the French Ministry of Defence ordered. Lastly, we are actively shaping the future of our helicopter range. The military version of the H160 flew for the first time last year, with initial deliveries scheduled for the end of 2028. We announced the launch of the H140, which you can also see on the slide, built to round out our existing lineup of light twin-engine helicopters, particularly for EMS, emergency medical services — and we made that announcement at the Verticon show in Dallas last year.

Turning now to Defence and Space. 2025 marked yet another year of record order intake, which came in at €17.7 billion, equivalent to a book-to-bill of roughly 1.3. The division's results for last year also stemmed from our transformation work, which is now delivering returns. Taking a closer look at our activities, 2025 proved an excellent year for the Eurofighter program. We booked an order for 20 aircraft from Germany, 8 for Italy, and we additionally welcomed Turkey into the program with an order for 20 aircraft. To keep pace with this rising demand, we are increasing Eurofighter production together with our program partners. During 2025, we also booked a first order for the new A330 MRTT+, an evolution of the current MRTT built on the re-engined A330neo, a new engine on the 330. This is a significant milestone that guarantees the world's most successful tanker stays successful over the coming decades. Turning to air power, and given how much has been written about the topic recently, allow me to say a few words on FCAS. Here at Airbus, our view is that Europe's need for an ambitious Future Combat Air System remains unchanged. We further believe that an ambition of this scale can only be achieved through cooperation that fosters operational interoperability and life cycle synergies for European air forces.

A single pillar being deadlocked shouldn’t put at risk the whole future of this high-tech European capability, which will strengthen our collective defense. Should our customers require it, we would back a two-fighter solution, and we are committed to taking a leading role in a reorganized FCAS of that kind, delivered through European cooperation. Now, returning to how we performed in 2025 and turning to space systems: Airbus was chosen by Eutelsat to build another 340 OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites — LEO satellites — which add to the first 100 that were recorded in 2024. Every one of these satellites is going to be manufactured at our Toulouse site, not far from here, and they will make an important contribution to Europe’s efforts to reinforce its sovereignty in LEO constellations. In space, last year’s agreement with Thales and Leonardo to combine our satellite and space services activities was, clearly, a significant milestone. Here at Airbus, we firmly believe that pooling our resources, our skills, and our capabilities will let us create a new leader rooted in Europe that is able to compete globally. Scale will help raise industrial efficiency, bring costs down, and ensure Europe can maintain its autonomy across the strategic space domain. We will keep working closely with our partners to make sure this proposed joint venture can be established as quickly as possible while going through all the necessary steps and approvals.

That brings us to the end of my summary of what we accomplished in 2025 across the businesses, and I'll now pass things to you, Thomas, to walk through the financials in detail.

Thank you so much, Guillaume, and good morning everyone joining us here in the room as well as online. At this point I'll walk you through the main financial items for the financial year 2025. On the whole, I believe we can say that in 2025 we posted very strong financials right across the board, despite a context full of challenges. Beginning with the top line, as you can see, revenues for 2025 rose to €73.4 billion, an increase of 4% year-on-year, mainly reflecting the bigger contribution from our divisions, stronger services volumes throughout the business, and also a higher level of deliveries, which was then partly offset by the weakening of the US dollar. Our 2025 EBIT adjusted rose to €7.1 billion, up from €5.4 billion in '24. Naturally, let me remind you that in the financial year '24, following completion of the in-depth technical review of our space programs, we booked a total charge of €1.3 billion. Now, in 2025, the higher commercial aircraft deliveries, together with a more favorable hedge rate and lower R&D expenses, were partly offset by the impact of tariffs — the vast majority of which actually occurred in Q4 — and it also reflects a stronger performance in both of our divisions.

Now, when you break down earnings by business, commercial aircraft EBIT adjusted rose to €5.5 billion, up from €5.1 billion the year before. The drivers there were higher deliveries, a more favorable hedge rate, and lower R&D expenses, and as I mentioned, that was partly offset by the tariff impact we had to absorb. Turning to Helicopters, EBIT adjusted for that division was up 13, 1 to 3%, year-on-year, reaching €925 million, which of course reflects higher deliveries along with really solid growth in the service business. And finally, at Airbus Defence and Space, our EBIT adjusted came in at €798 million, reflecting higher volumes and also supported by improved profitability in line with the mid-term trajectory that the division has set for itself, and of course it's also a result of the successful transformation plan. Now if we turn to EBIT consolidated reported, that figure was €6.1 billion, with adjustments totaling a negative €1 billion. Specifically, that negative €1 billion includes a negative impact of €622 million stemming from the dollar working capital mismatch and the balance sheet revaluation. Net income for 2025 as a result is a record €5.2 billion, with reported earnings per share of €6.61.

Finally, as shown on the right side of the page, free cash flow before customer financing came to €4.6 billion in 2025. That figure primarily mirrors our delivery level and the commercial momentum seen across every one of our businesses, which generated very strong pre-delivery payment inflows, and it was only partly offset by the planned inventory buildup tied to the ramp-up we have across all programs. And lastly, net cash for the year was €12.2 billion at the close of December, which also reflects the weaker dollar environment. I'd like to stress that total liquidity remains very healthy at roughly €35 billion. With that, I'll hand it back to you, Guillaume.

Thanks, Thomas. The goal we have of leading the way in sustainable aviation, along with the roadmaps tied to it, stays a top priority for Airbus. We made quite a few important moves in 2025, and I'll highlight several. At our Airbus Summit last year, we laid out a revised roadmap for the hydrogen aircraft research work we're doing — one that reflects both the slower than expected growth of the global hydrogen economy and our determination to concentrate on solutions capable of delivering a commercially viable and competitive product. Consistent with that direction, in June last year we announced we had signed an agreement with MTU Aero Engines to work together on hydrogen fuel cell propulsion, which is the technology we see as the most promising for a hydrogen aircraft in the future. At the same time, we keep advancing several key technology bricks for our next generation single-aisle aircraft, which we intend to bring to market in the second half of the next decade. It will deliver a step-change when it comes to decarbonization and competitiveness, and our target is a reduction in fuel burn of 25 to 30% versus aircraft of the current modern generation. When it comes to SAF, sustainable aviation fuels, Airbus keeps partnering with a number of airlines to speed up their development.

To get past the hurdles of actually getting SAF to market, we introduced a new book-and-claim demonstrator that lets customers purchase SAF and claim the matching CO2 emissions. If we look at Airbus's own operations, during 2025 we flew with 21% SAF across our aircraft and helicopter flights. That keeps us on course for our target of at least 30% SAF in our operations by 2030. Let's now turn to our outlook and priorities for this year and beyond. It begins with our guidance, which I'll read to you at this point. In setting the basis for its 2026 guidance, the company assumes there will be no further disruptions affecting global trade or the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, and its internal operations and its capacity to deliver products and services. The 2026 guidance from the company comes before M&A and reflects the impact of tariffs currently in effect. On that basis, for 2026 the company is targeting roughly 870 commercial aircraft deliveries, EBIT adjusted of approximately €7.5 billion, and free cash flow before customer financing of about €4.5 billion. To wrap up, what will the Airbus team be concentrating on during 2026? The core pillars supporting everything we do as a company remain the same.

Moving forward, safety, quality, integrity, compliance, and security will stay at the center of what we do. The events of last year — in particular the A320 software recall, the ELAC B topic, and the fuselage panel issues — have only strengthened our determination to place safety and quality first. In 2026, our main focus will still be ramping up production in commercial aircraft, where global demand keeps showing that people around the world want and need to fly, and in defense, where we intend to play a leading role in supporting Europe's efforts towards sovereignty and security. In all businesses, we'll keep preparing the future so we can deliver profitable growth. Group-wide, we'll do that by maturing the technologies that will help decarbonize aviation and prevail on tomorrow's battlefields. The world around us is changing fast and becoming more unpredictable. In this environment, it takes the daily commitment of team Airbus to make a difference by delivering products that help to connect and protect people. That is why, in these volatile times, we remain guided by our purpose to pioneer sustainable aerospace for a safe and united world. On that note, inspiring to me, back to you, Guillaume.

Thanks so much, Guillaume and Thomas, for those opening comments. We're going to begin the Q&A portion now. Once more, a few practical notes. If you're here in the room, kindly lift your hand and wait until one of our colleagues comes over to you. Before posing your question, we'd ask that you please give your name along with the publication you work for. Media colleagues following us online can use the Live-e platform — you've received the details — and submit questions in writing. Kindly do that in English. If any technical issues come up, don't hesitate to contact the communications team; their contacts are in the invitation. Let's get the session started now. We'll begin by taking questions from the room, with our colleagues here. The floor is yours. Please raise your hands. We can start over here. Daniel?

Thank you. Good morning — this is Jens Flottau from Aviation Week. Lars Wagner mentioned in Dublin a few days ago that he'd like to see widebody production at a much higher rate. So I was wondering, Guillaume, where you stand on that subject? And tied to that, how seriously are you actually examining an A350 to 2000, a stretched A350? Last thing: what's the newest update on the 220 to 500? Thanks.

Thank you, Jens. Lars makes a point I share. Higher rates on the A350 are something I would also like to see, since demand is very strong. Right now we are going through a steep ramp-up from where we stand today up to rate 12 in 2028. That keeps us busy, yet at the same time we are examining what it would mean, what it would take, and by when, to raise A350 rates substantially. It is not for today. Like Lars, I would like to see more, but the homework has to be done and the work completed before decisions get taken and we move forward. The A350 family rests on a very strong platform. The product is very successful. We book significantly more than we can produce on the short term, and we see a demand for a larger plane. That's also something we're looking at. Again, we're in the development phase of the freighter. It's an important year for the freighter. We have to come to deliveries of the aircraft, we are timing things one by one, but we're seriously looking at what the further potential of the aircraft is, and a stretch would be a natural evolution of the product. We're not at the point of decision.

We're now at the stage of doing the work, of analyzing, of listening to customers — but that is indeed a possibility. On the A220, we also have a lot on our plate, including integrating the Spirit AeroSystems work packages and what that means for the A220 program; we continue to ramp up. The market tells us loud and clear that strong potential exists for what is called the -500, which would make plenty of sense. We had the chance to say earlier that the question is more one of when than if — though we're not yet at the when, and we're not there yet either. As you've seen, we have plenty of things to do, and we want to time things one by one, but this is also something we are seriously considering.

Thanks, Jens. Thanks, Guillaume. There's another question right here in the middle.

Jorge Peñalba here, calling in from Avion Revue. Hello there. I'd like to direct my question to Guillaume regarding the new company you're setting up alongside Leonardo and Thales. Could you walk us through a bit more of the process that's been underway so far to bring that company together? Which of the goals that each of the companies holds on its own will end up being merged? And has a name already been decided on?

Thank you. Thank you. I'll take the second one first. At the very start, this project had a code name — Bromo — and now everyone keeps referring to Bromo. Bromo isn't the company's name, though it's starting to mean more than just a code name. I don't know. No name has been settled on, and we'll get to that later, but for now we simply use this code name when we refer to this company. Integration isn't where we are yet, and in fact, by law we can't do anything involving working together as a team or integrating until the closing has happened. We're working hard alongside each other to clear the milestones needed so that we can then complete the closing of this merger at some point, and obviously we are responding and submitting our files, particularly on the antitrust side, to the authorities, beginning with the European authorities. That's where we stand, and until we're together, those companies keep competing in the market just as they did before. Thank you, Guillaume. There's a question over there.

Yes, thank you. This is Niklas Záboji from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Guillaume, regarding FCAS, might you explain the deadlock a bit more for us? On one side, there's the governance dispute with Dassault. On the other side, the German Chancellor has now stated plainly that requirements differ between France and Germany as well. What's the reason for this deadlock? Do you still see any opportunity to resolve this dispute? Then, on the two-fighter solution, are all three of the options under discussion equally conceivable? Whether Airbus develops a new fighter on its own, or together with Sweden, or joins GCAP? Or do you lean toward one of those three options being discussed? Thank you.

I think it would be a mistake for us to be right too early. We are involved in a program known as FCAS. We have devoted considerable time and effort to supporting this program, which has several pillars. The Next Generation Fighter is one of those pillars, and it is worth noting that the remaining pillars are performing well and advancing nicely — specifically the Combat Cloud, the pillar covering remote carriers, and the engine pillar, which is also progressing. On the Next Generation Fighter, a deadlock exists that stems from differing expectations regarding governance between the partners — what leadership means, what cooperation means. That is among the causes of the difficulties. There is also, under a given governance, the matter of the ability to meet the program's objective for the various customers. It is up to the customers to speak to that point. I will not comment. We believe we are at a difficult juncture for the program. At Airbus, we still believe the program in its entirety makes sense and that we should not put at risk the progress and the relevance of the other pillars. We must find a path forward on the NGF pillar, and we are awaiting decisions from customers.

So we'll see what happens. We haven't reached the stage of deciding what comes next until this step has been cleared. European cooperation is something we believe in. Our view is that if a path exists involving two fighters, there might be a chance to bring other partners alongside us, though it's up to our customers to choose whom they would want to team up with, should that situation arise. Once again, that point hasn't arrived yet. Thank you. There's a question right here from Robert.

Okay, thanks. Robert Wall here from Aviation Week. I've got a quick follow-up on FCAS, plus a question about the A400M. On FCAS: the German Chancellor has said that within their requirements review he genuinely wants to pose the question of whether a sixth-generation fighter is needed at all. So I suppose what I'm asking is, if there's an NGF divorce, how certain can you be that a German program for Airbus would exist in the first place? Then on the A400M, just a small housekeeping item — what was that charge for? And on a broader level, how confident are you that this year you'll land top-up orders or bring in new customers for the program, so that production stays steady at eight a year?

Thomas, you'll handle the A400M? I'll take the first one. The shift from manned to unmanned strikes me as both very broad and very strong, and autonomous system capabilities are advancing very quickly. Whether to move from manned to unmanned is now on the table. The timing remains very unclear. Manned-unmanned teaming is another capability currently under development. I think it's fair to raise the question. I think many of us believe that at some point quite far in the future, manned capabilities will to a large extent be replaced by unmanned ones, and the belief at this stage is that a manned fighter is still needed alongside growing unmanned capabilities. I think a number of forces have the question on the table of whether they want to go directly to the next one, but then take the risk of being irrelevant for a certain point in time through a lack of modern manned fighter capabilities, or invest a lot of money in the manned fighters and then move forward to the next capability. There's also the understanding that there could be a path to a capability that would be manned and/or unmanned, either simultaneously or over time moving from manned to unmanned.

Those questions haven't gone away. Tech is advancing at quite a pace on programs that need a long time to develop. What the Chancellor voiced is an issue that exists in industry, that exists in defense, and one that FCAS had already resolved. A sixth-generation fighter is what we want, but clearly this question will stay open, and we see other players reaching conclusions that aren't necessarily the same. I believe that's what the Chancellor was reflecting in his remark. At least, that's how I understand it. You ought to put the question to the Chancellor directly.

To respond regarding the A400M: what matters most to us, I believe, is that the program's cash flow came in positive during 2025, and relative to prior years that strikes me as a genuine success. For us, that is the key measure. What you are pointing to comes more from the accounting treatment. As you may be aware, the A400M is carried as an estimate at completion, which means assumptions must be made covering the whole of the aircraft's remaining life. Two elements are captured in the charges: first, an assessment of the production costs for the A400M, and second, to some extent, certain developments we are still working on in response to what the customer has requested. Taken together across many years and discounted to today, those items produce the charge. Relative to what the program is delivering, I would say there is nothing truly exceptional.

Thanks, Guillaume and Thomas. On our left, there's a question here.

Thanks. This is Hakan Çelik, calling in from Posta and CNN Türk. I’d like to direct my question to Mr. Guillaume Faury. Given the transatlantic friction that keeps building and the strategic trust between the United States and Europe that is visibly eroding, how do you expect this dynamic to reshape the defense and aerospace industry? And on the other side, with European defense budgets rising and more and more calls for strategic autonomy, how is Airbus positioning itself?

Appreciate the question. Our view — and this was our view even before European nations ramped up defense spending — was that Europe simply wasn't putting enough money into defense. The data are out there. I won't get into specific figures, but the shortfall isn't small; it's enormous. Insufficient spending on defense, insufficient spending with European defense manufacturers, which means buying far too much from outside Europe, and not buying wisely — purchases are too fragmented and not joint enough for shared requirements. What we're now seeing unfold is a step in the right direction: defense budgets rising clearly, an intention to depend far more going forward on European players so that Europe boosts the resilience and sovereignty of its defense system, and with that the security of Europe, plus efforts on multiple fronts to cooperate and work jointly. We believe we sit right at the heart of this. Through the dual nature of our products, we can deliver military capabilities to Europe at scale. We build technologies with both civil and military uses that lend scale and speed to our ability to reach the market.

As of now, we hold the top spot among EU defense companies when it comes to order intake, and I believe the same is true for turnover. Our capabilities match up quite well and are closely aligned with the capability requirements Europe has laid out when you look at the broader picture. Our approach is to be present as a defense player across military aircraft, cyber, helicopters, and space — delivering the systems and capabilities that Europe requires, and beyond Europe as well, to support Europe's allies and partners, which means a business that keeps growing. We expect the pace of growth in defense to be roughly comparable to the pace of growth in non-defense, in civil activities, so that over the next five years horizon the balance between civil and military would likely stay at about 80% for civil and 20% for military.

Thanks, Guillaume. There’s a question right at the front.

Sebastian Steinke here from Flug Revue in Germany — good morning. My question is on the commercial aircraft side, please, and it concerns the 321. That aircraft has been a tremendous success. Do you foresee a market perhaps sitting just above it — maybe for a larger variant, or possibly a separate program — given that market growth in Asia appears to point toward demand for something a bit bigger as well? And on the 321, when you look toward the next family, doesn't the success of the 321 put a kind of pressure on you to remain close to it, since it has become, well, almost a global standard — everyone operates it, everyone has pilots for it, spare parts for it, and knows the family? Can the next family be radical enough, or does it need to stay close to that successful model, the 321? Thank you.

Thank you. So indeed, what we're seeing is that demand and where the heart of the market sits for the A320 family has shifted — historically it was A319, A320; then A320, A321; and now A321 along with its higher variants, specifically the XLR. We've got plenty on our plate when it comes to delivering those programs and delivering on the production side. Our focus is very much on getting the design stabilized so we can serve production at scale and at speed, in line with what our customers expect. What I'm getting at here is that as the center of the A320 family market moves toward the A321, we'll see the share of aircraft that are A321 or A321 derivatives rise substantially. We hinted at this in the forward, but adding another member to the family isn't something we plan to do. We're simply shifting the family's center toward more A321. On the replacement side — the successor to the aircraft — we do a transition. Every 20, 25 years, and in this case it will be more than 40 years. Even though we've boosted the aircraft's competitiveness very substantially, made upgrades, installed new engines, new devices on the aircraft, it has to be a significant step. Our target is 25 to 30% fuel burn improvement versus the A320 family, and so it will be a very different aircraft, a very significant step.

Even so, we intend to remain at the heart of what drove the A320 family's success. You'll see comparable philosophies and concepts, though with fresh technologies, fresh performance, and fresh characteristics. By the end, it will be very substantially different.

Thanks. There's one more question right here in front of us.

Hi, this is Lynn calling from Bloomberg. Regarding that 870 target, you're clearly still talking with Pratt & Whitney. Is there a chance they could produce more? Do you hold out hope that this year you might actually push that figure higher, or is this as good as it gets? How much flexibility is there in that target?

Guidance gets issued at the point when we issue it. It's built on the information available to us. Pratt & Whitney has backed away from orders that we placed and that they had accepted for 2026 volumes. Our guidance has to rest on what they now tell us they're prepared to commit to and deliver. We'll keep pushing hard to enforce our contractual rights, which in this case we believe are not being respected, but we're also aware that Pratt is dealing with a number of challenges. The outcome doesn't please us, yet that's where things stand today. As I mentioned earlier this morning, should things shift during the year, we'll take advantage of that if the change is clearly in the right direction, which is what we'd expect. We need to modify the production trajectory so that, at least initially, opportunities are maintained, and that introduces complexity into the ramp-up trajectory and into the inventory levels we'd be willing to accept going forward. We also have to look after the suppliers — all the other suppliers that have delivered and that keep delivering on the ramp-up trajectory — so that adds complexity. We're likewise putting a lot of focus on 2027 volumes for Pratt & Whitney engines, so that we're back on track at least in 2027 if 2026 turns out no better than what we see today.

We're at the point we're at. At this stage in the year, we're putting out guidance with what we've got from Pratt & Whitney, and that is disappointing, and we'll keep at it.

Thanks, Guillaume. There's a question that's come in online, and I'll read it aloud so everyone here in the room and on the call can hear it. It comes from Tim Hepher at Reuters. "Guillaume, you said on the analyst call that Airbus stands ready to enforce its contractual rights in the dispute with Pratt & Whitney. What does that actually mean in practice? Have you started any kind of legal action, or do you plan to?"

We do, of course, have an agreement with our friends at Pratt & Whitney, and it's our view that they aren't honoring what they committed to contractually, so we intend to enforce our rights. In fact, we've started a process that follows the dispute provisions in the contract, and I won't go into further detail on that, since doing so would turn it into a commercial-in-confidence matter between us and them. Yes, I confirm that we do want to enforce the rights we have under the contract.

I believe someone in the room had a question first over there, and then we'll return to the online questions afterward.