Airbus facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Airbus SE

Lagardère production plant in Blagnac, France
Formerly	Parent company: EADS (2000–2014) Airbus Group NV (2014–2015) Airbus Group SE (2015–2017) Subsidiary: Airbus Industrie GIE (1970–2001) Airbus SAS (2001–current)
Type	Public (Societas Europaea)
Traded as	BMAD: AIR Euronext Paris: AIR FWB: AIR CAC 40 component DAX component Euro Stoxx 50 component
ISIN	NL0000235190
Industry	Aerospace, Defence
Predecessor	Aérospatiale, CASA, DASA, Matra
Founded	18 December 1970; 54 years ago (1970-12-18)
Headquarters	Blagnac (n. Toulouse), France (operational) Leiden, Netherlands (legal)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Guillaume Faury (CEO) René Obermann (Chairman)
Products	A220 A320 A330 A350
Revenue	€65.45 billion (2023)
Operating income	€4.60 billion (2023)
Net income	€3.79 billion (2023)
Total assets	€118.87 billion (2023)
Total equity	€17.73 billion (2023)
Owner	SOGEPA (French Government): 10.9% GZBV [de] (German Government): 10.8% SEPI (Spanish Government): 4.1%
Number of employees	147,893 (2023)
Divisions	Defence and Space Helicopters
Subsidiaries	Airbus Group, Inc. Airbus Corporate Jets ArianeGroup (50%) ATR (50%) Dassault (10%) Eurofighter (46%) MBDA (37.5%) NAVBLUE NHIndustries (62.5%) Panavia (42.5%) Satair Stelia Aerospace Testia
Footnotes / references Financials as of 31 December  2022 (2022 -12-31)[update].

Airbus SE is a huge European company that designs and builds airplanes. It's a multinational company, meaning it operates in many countries. While it's best known for making commercial passenger planes, Airbus also has separate divisions that create defense and space equipment and helicopters. Since 2019, Airbus has been the world's top maker of airliners and a leading helicopter manufacturer.

The company started in 2000 as the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). This happened when French, German, and Spanish aerospace companies merged. Later, EADS took full control of its airplane-making part, Airbus Industrie GIE, which had been formed in 1970. This original group was created to build large airplanes to compete with American ones. In 2015, EADS changed its name to Airbus SE. Because it started from different countries, Airbus has major offices and factories in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. More recently, it has also added locations in Canada, China, and the United States.

Airbus's official headquarters are in Leiden, Netherlands, but its main operations are run from Blagnac, France. The "SE" in its name means it's a "Societas Europaea," which is a type of company recognized across Europe. The company is currently led by CEO Guillaume Faury. Its shares are traded on major stock exchanges in Paris, Frankfurt, and Spain.

The Story of Airbus

Airbus as we know it today came from several European aerospace companies joining forces. The first step was forming the Airbus Industrie GIE group in 1970. Then, in 2000, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) was created. EADS owned 100% of Eurocopter SA (now Airbus Helicopters), which was formed in 1992, and 80% of the original Airbus Industrie GIE.

In 2001, Airbus Industrie GIE became Airbus SAS, a simpler type of company. By 2006, EADS bought the remaining 20% of Airbus from BAE Systems. EADS later changed its name to Airbus Group in 2014 and then to Airbus SE in 2015. Because the Airbus SAS airplane division was so important, the leaders of the main company and the airplane division started working together closely in 2017. The holding company officially became Airbus SE in April 2017.

The logos of Airbus have changed over time. The first Airbus logos featured a symbol that looked like a jet engine turbine. This design was also seen on the standard paint jobs of Airbus planes. The EADS logo, used from 2000 to 2010, combined symbols from the companies that merged to form it. After 2010, they used a new font with a 3D look. This font has been used in the Airbus Group and current Airbus SE logos.

• 

  Original, for Airbus A300

• 

  2014–2017

• 

  2017–present

What Airbus Makes

Passenger Airplanes

Airbus A300, the company's first airliner and the world's first wide-body, twinjet aircraft

Airbus started making planes with the A300 in 1972. This was the world's first wide-body, twin-engine jet. It became very popular after new rules in 1976 allowed twin-engine planes to fly farther from airports. This made the A300 more efficient for long flights over oceans than planes with three or four engines. A shorter version, the A310, came out in 1982. Both models were made until 2007.

Airbus A320, the company's best-selling airliner

After the A300's success, Airbus decided to build smaller, narrow-body planes and more wide-body planes.

Their narrow-body efforts led to the A320 in 1987. This plane has been a huge success. The A320 was the first commercial jet to use a digital fly-by-wire control system. This means computers help control the plane's movements. All Airbus planes made since then have similar cockpit systems, which makes it easier for pilots to learn to fly different models. Because the A320 was so popular, Airbus made longer versions like the A321 (1993) and shorter ones like the A319 (1995) and A318 (2002). In 2016, Airbus updated this family of planes with new engines, calling them the A320neo (new engine option).

For wide-body planes, Airbus introduced the four-engine A340 in 1991 and the twin-engine A330 in 1992. At first, Airbus wanted four-engine planes for very long flights. However, new rules soon allowed twin-engine planes to fly much farther. This helped the A330 a lot, but it hurt sales of the A340, which stopped production in 2011. The A330 was also updated with new engines in 2018, becoming the A330neo.

In 2005, Airbus introduced the world's largest passenger plane, the A380. This plane had four engines and two full decks for passengers. It was meant to compete with the Boeing 747 for long-distance flights. However, the A380 cost a lot to develop and didn't sell as well as hoped, so production ended in January 2022.

The A350, a wide-body, twin-engine plane, came out in 2013. It was the first Airbus plane mostly made from strong, lightweight carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers. It's also longer and wider than earlier wide-body models.

A second narrow-body jet, the A220, was added in 2018. Airbus took over this plane's program and renamed it. The A220 has five seats across in each row, while the A320 usually has six.

Data as of 29 February 2024.

Airbus also co-owns ATR, which makes smaller regional planes like the ATR 42 and ATR 72.

Corporate Jets

VIP aircraft Airbus A330 of Qatar Amiri Flight taxiing at Zagreb Airport

Airbus Corporate Jets sells and customizes new planes for private owners and companies. These jets are based on Airbus's regular passenger planes. Airbus entered this market in 1997 with the A319 Corporate Jet. Now, the term "Airbus Corporate Jet" is used for all their business jet models, including the larger VIP wide-body planes.

Airbus also owns 10% of Dassault Aviation, which builds the smaller Falcon family of business jets.

Military Aircraft

The first A400M in Seville, 26 June 2008

Airbus Defence and Space builds and modifies planes for military use. Airbus became more interested in military aviation in the late 1990s. They focused on two main types of planes:

• Aerial refueling planes: Like the Airbus A310 MRTT and Airbus A330 MRTT. These planes can refuel other aircraft in the air. They can also carry troops, transport cargo, or be used as air ambulances.
• Tactical transport planes: Like the Airbus A400M Atlas.

The A400M Atlas is a large, four-engine transport plane. It's bigger than the American C-130 but smaller than the C-17. It can carry heavy loads and still land on rough runways. The A400M was made for European NATO countries so they wouldn't have to rely on planes from other nations.

The Defence and Space division also sells the Airbus C295, a smaller transport plane originally designed by the Spanish company CASA.

Airbus is also involved in several joint ventures that make military equipment:

• ArianeGroup (50% owner): Builds the Ariane 5 space rockets.
• Eurofighter (46% owner): Builds the Typhoon fighter jet.
• Panavia Aircraft (42.5% owner): Built the Tornado fighter jet.
• MBDA (37.5% owner): Builds missile systems.
• Dassault Aviation (10% owner): Builds the Rafale fighter jet.

Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters designs and builds helicopters for both civilian and military use. This division started in 1992 as the Eurocopter Group, combining the helicopter parts of two companies that later formed Airbus. Airbus Helicopters is now the world's biggest maker of turbine helicopters.

Their civilian helicopters include models like the single-engine H125 and H130, and larger twin-engine models like the H135, H145, H160, and H225.

For military use, they make the Tiger attack helicopter, plus military versions of many of their civilian models.

Airbus also owns 62.5% of NHIndustries, which builds the NH90 military helicopter.

How Airbus is Organized

Divisions

Commercial Aircraft

The Commercial Aircraft division makes most of Airbus's money, about 72% of its total revenue in 2023. This division focuses on passenger planes.

Defence and Space

The Airbus Defence and Space division was created in 2014. It combined earlier EADS divisions that made military planes, space systems, and security technology. This division now makes tanker planes, transport planes, and other special mission aircraft. It also provides systems for air, land, sea, and civilian security, including parts for the Ariane rockets and the Galileo satellite system.

Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters, previously known as Eurocopter, is a company that builds and supports helicopters.

An Airbus A330neo and a Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport

Airbus A321 in new Wizz Air livery at Brest airport, Belarus

Other Companies Airbus Owns or Co-owns

Airbus has many smaller companies (subsidiaries) and works with other companies in joint ventures.

• Subsidiaries: These are companies fully or mostly owned by Airbus. Examples include Airbus Corporate Jets, NAVBLUE (which helps with flight operations), and Satair (which supplies aircraft parts).
• Joint ventures: These are companies that Airbus owns with other partners.
  • Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (75% owned): Makes the Airbus A220 planes.
  • ArianeGroup (50% owned): Makes Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 space rockets.
  • ATR (50% owned): Makes regional planes like the ATR 42 and ATR 72.
  • Dassault Aviation (10% owned): Makes Rafale fighter jets and Falcon business jets.
  • Eurofighter (46% owned): Makes the Typhoon fighter jet.
  • MBDA (37.5% owned): Makes missile systems.
  • NHIndustries (62.5% owned): Makes the NH90 military helicopter.
  • Panavia Aircraft (42.5% owned): Made the Tornado fighter jet.

Who Owns Airbus?

The biggest owners of Airbus in early 2024 were:

• Government of France (10.86%)
• Government of Germany (10.84%)
• Government of Spain (4.090%)
• Other large investors and investment funds.

Leaders of Airbus

• Chairman: René Obermann (since April 2020)
• Chief Executive: Guillaume Faury (since April 2019)

Where Airbus Builds Planes

Airbus factory at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France (43°36′44″N 1°21′47″E / 43.61222°N 1.36306°E / 43.61222; 1.36306)

Airbus Hamburg-Finkenwerder factory in Germany

Airbus factory in Getafe, Spain

Airbus has several main factories where they put together different plane models. These are:

• Toulouse, France (A320 family, A330 and A350)
• Airbus Hamburg-Finkenwerder, Hamburg, Germany (A320 family)
• Seville, Spain (A400M and C295)
• Tianjin, China (A320 family)
• Airbus Mobile, Mobile, Alabama, United States (A220 and A320 family)
• Mirabel, Quebec: Airbus Canada (A220)

Airbus also has many other plants across Europe. Because the company started as a group of different companies, parts for planes often move between these factories. They use special large cargo planes called the Beluga and BelugaXL to carry entire sections of a plane's body. For planes built in China and the United States, parts are gathered in Europe and then shipped by sea to the final assembly lines.

Airbus opened a factory for the A320 family in Tianjin, China, in 2009. In 2022, this plant was updated to also build the A321. In 2023, Airbus announced plans to add a second production line in Tianjin.

North America is very important to Airbus, both for selling planes and for getting parts from suppliers. Many US companies provide parts for Airbus planes.

In 2012, Airbus announced plans for a $600 million factory in Mobile, Alabama, United States. This plant builds A220 and A320 family planes. Construction started in 2013, and the factory began operating in 2015, aiming to produce up to 50 planes per year by 2017.

Financial Information

Airbus is a large company with many financial dealings. In April 2020, Airbus announced that it had to cut plane production by a third because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company's CEO, Guillaume Faury, said they were "bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed," meaning they were losing money very quickly. This situation led to job cuts across Airbus.

Helping the Environment

Airbus is working towards "Flightpath 2050," a plan for the aviation industry to reduce noise and emissions like CO₂ (carbon dioxide) and NOx (nitrogen oxides).

Airbus was the first aerospace company to get an ISO 14001 certification in 2007. This is a special certificate that shows the whole company is committed to managing its environmental impact.

Working with other companies, Airbus has developed a biofuel that could help reduce pollution and the need for fossil fuels. They believe this biofuel, which can be made from algae, could replace a third of the world's aviation fuel. Algae-based biofuel absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows and doesn't compete with food crops. While still in early stages, this could be available by 2030. Airbus already offers delivery flights to airlines using a 10% biofuel mix in regular engines. This shows that the fuel can be used in commercial flights without changing the engines.

In September 2020, Airbus revealed three "ZEROe" concept planes that would run on liquid hydrogen. They hope these could be the first commercial zero-emission aircraft, flying by 2035.

See Also

• Airbus Training Centre Europe
• Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom
• Airbus affair
• Boeing
• Bombardier Aerospace
• Comac
• Competition between Airbus and Boeing
• Competition in the regional jet market
• Embraer
• F-WWAI
• Liebherr Aerospace
• List of preserved Airbus aircraft
• United Aircraft Corporation