Airbus commercial chief Christian Scherer has expressed confidence in the company's plan to increase production to 75 A320neo-family jets a month in 2027 and 12 A350s in 2028 despite continued supply chain shortages. Speaking during a briefing about Airbus's 2024 order and delivery results on 9 January, Scherer said that the European airframer had been able to significantly increase its industrial output last year due to investments in production facilities, training, internal organisational changes and collaboration with suppliers. Airbus increased its delivery volume to 766 commercial jets in 2024, from 735 in 2023. However, Scherer says "the delivery numbers themselves actually hide an even better performance on the industrial side". "There was a significantly higher production increase, which doesn't meet the eye. [Because] in 2023, we did deliver, as part of the 735, quite a bit of existing inventory," he says, adding that last year's output "gives me reason for optimism". A320neo-family production reached 602 jets (including 361 A321neos), up from 571 in 2023. A350 deliveries declined to 57, from 64. The manufacturer additionally delivered 75 A220s, up from 68 in 2023, while A330 output was flat at 32 units. Airbus previously disclosed its intention to increase monthly A330 production to four aircraft in 2024 and reach Rate 14 on the A220 programme in 2026. The operating environment remains "very difficult", Scherer acknowledges. "The external environment, the geopolitics, the local politics in places we operate in or deliver to, and the supply chain continues to have weak links that we have to address. But I am confident that we are on a ramp, that we are on the ramp that we're planning, and that we will see continuous improvement and a climb rate in 2025." He did not specify production targets for 2025. Airbus also made "really meaningful progress" in improving its supply chain, Scherer says. "We have stepped up our involvement in the supply chain and become much more operational and less transactional in the way we deal with our partners. We've addressed different supply chain issues, one after another, as they developed and we faced them, and that's now paying off. "The vast majority of our suppliers have also made what is needed [on] their side to deliver the ramp up with us." Scherer cites engines, cabin monuments, galleys, seats, and supplier Spirit AeroSystems as areas of concern. The US aerostructures manufacturer has reached deals with Airbus and Boeing to integrate much of its operation into the those of the two airframers. But for some Spirit AeroSystems activities, including an Airbus-supplying UK facility in Prestwick, solutions have yet to be found. Scherer observes bottlenecks in the supply of detailed aerostructures. "We have a dedicated task force on aerostructures and detailed parts in particular, which is still a very fragmented ecosystem." On cabin interiors, Airbus has allocated staff to support airline customers to source and certificate equipment for their aircraft. More broadly, the airframer has seconded staff to suppliers and, occasionally, provided financial support to improve production lines, Scherer reports. "We've worked hand-in hand with some of our large Tier 1 suppliers," he says. "All of this has brought visible results but, frankly, wasn't enough." In addition to better supplier collaboration, the airframer made internal organisational changes to increase efficiency and, as Scherer puts it, "make us fitter for the times ahead". At the heart of the supply-chain issues is the loss of aerospace know-how as staff exited the sector amid the pandemic, Scherer notes. "That's why, in our company at Airbus, we're devoting a lot of effort in recruitment [and] constant training of our production forces."

Avianca has announced three new routes connecting the United States with Latin America, set to begin operations on 30 March 2025. The carrier says the expansion includes Tampa-Bogota service with four weekly flights, marking Tampa's first South American connection in nearly 50 years, along with daily flights from Fort Lauderdale to Medellin and Miami to San Jose, Costa Rica. All routes will be operated by 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft, adding a total capacity of 6,480 weekly seats across the new services. The Tampa-Bogota route will provide Tampa's travellers access to over 75 destinations in more than 25 countries through Avianca's Bogota hub, including 25 domestic Colombian destinations.

South Africa's Airlink will resume flights to Nampula in Mozambique on 9 January, having cancelled them in recent days because of threats to seize its aircraft. The resumption follows "guidance and reassurances" from South African and Mozambican officials that the situation has been "defused sufficiently" without the airline's equipment being at risk, it states. Airlink withdrew services on 7 January after a local court ordered that its aircraft be seized following claims for damages raised by two Mozambican passengers who the airline had forced to disembark at Johannesburg, citing "unruly behaviour". Officials had on 28 December attempted to seize an Airlink aircraft at Nampula airport in connection with the incident. "While an attempt to seize our aircraft remains a possibility as long as the Nampula provincial-court order has not been withdrawn, we have been assured that local officials will not attempt to execute it," states Airlink chief executive Rodger Foster. "We maintain the court order, along with the claim against Airlink by two passengers who were recently offloaded from one of our flights... are flawed and without merit." Airlink argues that Mozambique's courts do not have jurisdiction to seize foreign-registered aircraft as security for civil claims. Furthermore, ⁠the incident occurred in South Africa, and the terms and conditions accepted by all customers on purchase of an Airlink ticket are governed by South African law, adds the airline. As part of the dispute, Airlink says it has contacted South Africa's departments of transport and of international relations and co-operation, as well as the country's civil aviation authority and its counterpart in Mozambique, the IACM.