Proactive Investors - Airbus (LON:0KVV) said that its order backlog is now so large that it is turning away customers, especially in the narrowbody or single-aisle short-haul space.
Speaking at the Farnborough Airshow, chief executive Guillaume Faury said it cannot produce planes quickly enough to match demand in the market currently.
“Today we have to refuse orders because we are not able to deliver in the time frame that is requested,” Faury said.
“So if there’s a bit of softening of the market, that’s no problem for us.”
Faury added the plane maker is sold out on most of its aircraft but supply-chain issues mean it cannot easily accelerate production.
He expects these issues to last for a few years, adding: “We have thousands of suppliers, and when you have just a couple of them, a few of them that are late on the ramp up, that’s slowing down everybody,” Faury said.
Boeing’s problems are adding to the order surge as are new developments by Airbus itself.
Only yesterday, Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) UK boss Marion Geoffroy predicted a price war over flights to the Middle East due to the longer range of Airbus’s new A321XLR narrowbody jets.
Wizz Air has already placed an order for 47 of these planes, with deliveries starting in February next year.