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Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a
Pan-European Pan-European can refer to: * Pan-European identity * Pan-European corridors ** Pan-European Corridor X ** Pan-European Corridor Xa * Pan European Game Information * Pan-European Institute * Pan-European nationalism * Pan-European Oil Pipeline * ...
aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...
corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of
commercial aircraft An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest o ...
but it also has separate defence and space and
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
divisions. Airbus has long been the world's leading helicopter manufacturer and, in 2019, also emerged as the world's biggest manufacturer of airliners. The company was incorporated as the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) in the year 2000 through the merger of the French
Aérospatiale Aérospatiale () was a major French state-owned aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, defence corporation. It was founded in 1970 as () through the merger of three established state-owned companies: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation ...
-
Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...
, the German
DASA DASA (officially Deutsche AeroSpace AG, later Daimler-Benz AeroSpace AG, then DaimlerChrysler AeroSpace AG) was a German aerospace manufacturer. It was created during 1989 as the aerospace subsidiary arm of Daimler-Benz, Daimler-Benz AG (later D ...
and Spanish CASA. The new entity subsequently acquired full ownership of its subsidiary, ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
of European aerospace companies originally incorporated in 1970 to develop and produce a wide-body aircraft to compete with American-built airliners. EADS rebranded itself as ''Airbus SE'' in 2015. Reflecting its multinational origin, the company operates major offices and assembly plants in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, along with more recent additions in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
and
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Airbus' headquarters are legally registered in
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, Netherlands, but daily management is conducted from the company's main office located in
Blagnac Blagnac (; ) is a Communes of France, commune of the greater Toulouse area in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in southwestern France. The city hosts the aviation museum Aeroscopia. It is the third-largest suburb of the city o ...
, France. The ''SE'' in its corporate name stands for . The company is led by CEO Guillaume Faury and is a component of the EURO STOXX 50
stock market index In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an Index (economics), index that measures the performance of a stock market, or of a subset of a stock market. It helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calcul ...
. Since its inception in 2000, the company's shares have been listed on the
Paris Stock Exchange Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, th ...
, the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Located in Frankfurt, ...
and the four regional Spanish stock exchanges (including the
Bolsa de Madrid (; Madrid Stock Exchange) is the largest and most international of Spain's four regional stock exchanges (the others are located in Barcelona, Valencia, and Bilbao) that trade shares and convertible bonds and fixed income securities, and both g ...
).


History

The current company is the product of consolidation in the European aerospace industry, tracing back to the formation of the ''Airbus Industrie GIE'' consortium in 1970. In 2000, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) NV was established. In addition to other subsidiaries pertaining to security and space activities, EADS owned 100% of the pre-existing Eurocopter SA, established in 1992, as well as 80% of Airbus Industrie GIE. In 2001, Airbus Industrie GIE was reorganised as Airbus SAS, a simplified
joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...
. In 2006, EADS acquired
BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
' remaining 20% of Airbus. EADS NV was renamed Airbus Group NV and SE in 2014 and 2015, respectively."EADS changes name to Airbus"
. ''Financial Times'', 2014.
Due to the dominance of the Airbus SAS division within Airbus Group SE, the executive committees of the parent and subsidiary companies were aligned in January 2017, but the companies were kept as separate legal entities. The holding company was given its present name in April 2017. The logos of Airbus Industrie GIE and Airbus SAS displayed a stylised turbine symbol, redolent of a
jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...
, and a font similar to Helvetica Black. The logo colours were reflected in the standard Airbus
aircraft livery An aircraft livery is a set of comprehensive insignia comprising color, graphic, and typographical identifiers which operators (airlines, governments, air forces and occasionally private and corporate owners) apply to their aircraft. As aircraf ...
in each period. The EADS logo between 2000 and 2010 combined the logos of the merged companies, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (a four-ray star) and Aérospatiale-Matra (a curved arrow), after which these elements were removed and a new font with 3D shading was chosen. This font was retained in the logos of Airbus Group NV (2014–2015) and Airbus Group SE (2015–2017), then Airbus SE: File:First Airbus logo.svg, Original, for
Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
File:Airbus-group-logo.jpeg, 2014–2017 File:Airbus Logo 2017.svg, 2017–present


Products


Civilian

The Airbus product line started with the
A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first twin-engine, double-aisle (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured from 1971 to 2007. In Septe ...
in 1972, the world's first
wide-body A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . ...
,
twinjet A twinjet or twin-engine jet is a jet aircraft powered by two jet engine, engines. A twinjet is able to fly well enough to land with a single working engine, making it safer than a single-engine aircraft in the event of failure of an engine. F ...
aircraft. The aircraft greatly benefited from the 1976 introduction of the
ETOPS The Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards (ETOPS) () are safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Twinjet, twin-engine commercial passenger aircraft operations. They are a safety measu ...
90 rule, which allowed twinjet aircraft to operate up to 90 minutes (increased from 60 minutes) away from the nearest airport. Under the new rule, the A300 was able to operate over the
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
, the
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...
, and the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
more efficiently than the
trijet A trijet is a jet aircraft powered by three jet engines. In general, passenger airline trijets are considered to be second-generation jet airliners, due to their innovative engine locations, in addition to the advancement of turbofan technology. ...
s and
four-engined jet aircraft A four-engined jet, sometimes called a quadjet, is a jet aircraft powered by four Jet engine, engines. The presence of four engines offers increased power and redundancy, allowing such aircraft to be used as airliners, cargo aircraft, freighters, ...
offered by competitors. They then went on to make the
Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, Aircraft design process, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie GIE, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the Airbus ...
, also a wide-body aircraft. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the
Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
, the first twin-jet wide-body. It was manufactured from 1981-1998. Building on its success with the A300, Airbus worked to develop a narrow-body aircraft along with additional wide-body aircraft based on the A300. The narrow-body efforts led to the launch of the
A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...
in 1987, which was and continues to be a major commercial success. The A320 was the first commercial jet to use a digital
fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic sig ...
control system. All Airbus aircraft developed since then have cockpit systems similar to the A320, making it easier to train crew. The success led Airbus to introduce a lengthened version, the A321 in 1993, along with the shorter A319 in 1995 and the even shorter A318 in 2002. In 2016, Airbus re-engineered the narrow-body family, in a programme called the
A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is an incremental development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' being Greek for "new", as well as an acronym for "new engine option") is based on the enhance ...
(''new engine option).'' The wide-body programme led to the introduction of the four-engine
A340 The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wit ...
in 1991 and the twinjet
A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs alon ...
in 1992. At that time, Airbus wanted to offer
four-engined jet aircraft A four-engined jet, sometimes called a quadjet, is a jet aircraft powered by four Jet engine, engines. The presence of four engines offers increased power and redundancy, allowing such aircraft to be used as airliners, cargo aircraft, freighters, ...
to allow for longer
transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...
and transpacific flights. However, during the aircraft's development, new rules extended twinjet operations to 120 minutes in 1986, and 180 minutes in 1989. Although the new rules hurt sales of the A340, they greatly benefited the
A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 quadjet, and launched both designs alon ...
. Production of the A340 ended in 2011, while the A330 would be re-engineered as the
A330neo The Airbus A330neo ("neo" for " New Engine Option") is a wide-body airliner developed by Airbus from the original Airbus A330 (now A330''ceo'' – "Current Engine Option"). A new version with modern engines comparable with those developed for ...
(''new engine option'') in 2018. The world's largest passenger airliner was introduced by Airbus in 2005; the A380 is a four-engine aircraft with two full-length passenger seating decks. Intended to challenge the dominance of the
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...
in the
long-haul In aviation, the flight length or flight distance refers to the distance of a flight. Aircraft do not necessarily follow the great-circle distance, but may opt for a longer route due to weather, traffic, to utilise a jet stream, or to refuel. Co ...
market, the A380 was ultimately a money-losing venture for Airbus due to large development costs and limited sales arising from high operating costs, and production ended in December 2021. The
A350 The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbu ...
, a wide-body, twinjet aircraft was introduced in 2013. The A350 was the first Airbus aircraft made largely from
carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
. It is longer and wider than the fuselage used on the A300, A310, A330, and A340. A second narrow-body jet was added to the product list in 2018 when Airbus gained control of the Bombardier CSeries programme, and rebranded it as the
A220 The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (ACLP). It was originally developed by Bombardier Aviation and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was launche ...
. The jet offers five-abreast seating compared to the six-abreast seating on the A320. In December 2024, it was reported that the total aircraft delivery in the year for Airbus has reached 643 units, with 84 planes delivered in November 2024 alone. Subsequently in January 2025, it was reported that Airbus have successfully delivered 766 aircraft to its customers out of 878 orders in the entire 2024, marking a 4% increase from the previous year and further reinforce its position as the leading aircraft manufacturer in the world. The company is also a 50% owner of the
ATR ATR may refer to: Medicine * Acute transfusion reaction * Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related, a protein involved in DNA damage repair Science and mathematics * Advanced Test Reactor, nuclear research reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, ...
joint venture which builds the
ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aér ...
and
ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...
regional aircraft.


Corporate jets

Airbus Corporate Jets Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) is a business unit of Airbus which markets and completes business jet variants of the company’s airliners. Following the entry of the 737-based Boeing Business Jet into the market, Airbus introduced the A319-based Ai ...
markets and modifies new aircraft for private and corporate customers. It has a model range that parallels the commercial aircraft offered by the company. Following the entry of the 737-based
Boeing Business Jet A Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) is a version of a Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing jet airliner with modifications to serve the private, head of state, and corporate jet market. The first BBJ, based on the 737-700, rolled out on July 26, 1998; a ...
, Airbus joined the business jet market with the A319 Corporate Jet in 1997. Although the term Airbus Corporate Jet was initially used only for the A319CJ, it is now often used for all models, including VIP widebodies. As of December 2008, 121 corporate and private jets are operating, and 164 aircraft have been ordered. The company is also a 10% owner of
Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation SA () is a French Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault, Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (Marcel Bloch Aircraft Company). After ...
, which builds the Falcon family of smaller business jets.


Military

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reven ...
markets and either builds or modifies new aircraft for military use. Airbus became increasingly interested in developing and selling to the military aviation market in the late 1990s. It embarked on two main fields of development:
aerial refuelling Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling ( en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to ano ...
with the
Airbus A310 MRTT The Airbus A310 MRTT Multi-Role Tanker Transport is a military air-to-air refuelling, or in-flight refuelling tanker transport aircraft, capable of operating multi-role missions. The A310 MRTT tanker aircraft is a subsequent development from ...
(Multi-Role Tanker Transport) and later the
Airbus A330 MRTT The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refueling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 15 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 82 aircraft, of which 64 had ...
, and
tactical airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long dista ...
with the
Airbus A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military, now Airbus Defence and Space, as a tactical airlifter with strategic capa ...
. The company has also continued to market and assemble some military aircraft previously offered by the companies that formed Airbus, notably CASA. The A310 and A330-based MRTT aircraft are conversions of civilian airliners. The aircraft are called multi-role tanker transports because, in addition to their aerial refuelling capability, the aircraft can also be configured for troop transport, medevac, and cargo transportation. The A400M Atlas is a four-engine, turboprop-powered tactical transport aircraft. The A400M is sized between the American-made
C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...
and the
C-17 The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) between the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previ ...
transports, and while it can carry heavier loads than the C-130, its turboprop engines allow it to retain the ability to use rough landing strips. The A400M was developed for European
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
members Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK, as an alternative to relying on foreign aircraft. During development, the A400M programme faced delays and cost overruns; with customer nations stepping in offer additional subsidies. The first aircraft was delivered to the
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...
in 2013, and by 2023, more than 100 aircraft had been built. The Defence and Space division also market and assembles the EADS CASA C295, a smaller tactical transport aircraft, that was designed and initially manufactured by the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
aerospace company CASA. The company is also a 50% owner of the
ArianeGroup ArianeGroup (formerly Airbus Safran Launchers) is an aerospace company based in France. A joint venture between Airbus and Safran, the company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris. It consists of three core ...
joint venture which builds the
Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...
space launch vehicle, a 46% owner of the
Eurofighter The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems ...
joint venture which builds the
Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
fighter jet, a 42.5% owner of the Panavia Aircraft joint venture which built the
Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
fighter jet, a 37.5% owner of the
MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...
fighter jet, and previously, the
Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French ...
fighter.


Helicopters

Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
markets and builds new rotorcraft for civilian and military use. The division was founded formed in 1992 as the Eurocopter Group, through the merger of the helicopter divisions of
Aérospatiale Aérospatiale () was a major French state-owned aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, defence corporation. It was founded in 1970 as () through the merger of three established state-owned companies: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation ...
and
DASA DASA (officially Deutsche AeroSpace AG, later Daimler-Benz AeroSpace AG, then DaimlerChrysler AeroSpace AG) was a German aerospace manufacturer. It was created during 1989 as the aerospace subsidiary arm of Daimler-Benz, Daimler-Benz AG (later D ...
(two of the founding companies of Airbus). Airbus Helicopters is the foremost player in the turbine helicopter industry both in terms of revenues and deliveries. The division's civilian products include the single engine H125 and H130, the light twin engine
H135 The Airbus Helicopters H135, formerly Eurocopter EC135, is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with a digital automatic fligh ...
and
H145 The Airbus Helicopters H145, formerly the Eurocopter EC145, is a twin-engine light utility helicopter developed and manufactured by Airbus Helicopters. Originally designated as the ''BK 117'', the H145 is based upon the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 C1 ...
, the medium twin engine
H155 The Airbus Helicopters H155 (formerly Eurocopter EC155) is a long-range medium-lift passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter from its Dauphin family for civil aviation use. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 13 pas ...
and
H160 The Airbus Helicopters H160 (formerly X4) is a medium utility helicopter developed by Airbus Helicopters. Formally launched at Heli-Expo in Orlando, Florida on 3 March 2015, it is intended to replace the AS365 and EC155 models in the firm's li ...
, the super medium twin engine H175, and the heavy twin engine H215 and
H225 The Airbus Helicopters H225 (formerly Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma) is a long-range passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter as the next generation of the civilian Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma, Super Puma family. It is a twin-engine ...
. Military products include the
Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
attack helicopter, along with militarized versions of the H125, H135, H145, H160, H175, H215, and H225. The company is also a 62.5% owner of the NHIndustries joint venture, which builds the
NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helico ...
military utility helicopter.


Organisation


Divisions


Commercial Aircraft

Commercial aircraft generated 74% of total revenue for the Airbus group in 2018 and 72% in 2023. The key trends for Airbus Commercial Aircraft (excluding Defence, Space and Helicopters) are as of each financial year ending December 31:


Defence and Space

The division
Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reven ...
was formed in January 2014 as part of the group restructuring from the former EADS divisions
Airbus Military Airbus Military was a business unit of Airbus, which was part of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) from 2009 to 2013. The company was formally created in April 2009 by the integration of the former Military Transport Aircraft ...
,
Astrium Astrium was a European aerospace company and subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), headquartered in Paris. It designed, developed and manufactured civil and military space systems and provided related services ...
, and Cassidian (composed of Cassidian Electronics – develops and manufactures sensors, radars, avionics and electronic warfare systems for military and security applications, Cassidian Air Systems – develops manned and unmanned aerial systems (UAVs), mission avionics, electronic defence and warning systems and Cassidian Systems – provides global security systems such as command & control, lead system integration,
TETRA Tetra is the common name of many small freshwater characiform fishes. Tetras come from Africa, Central America, and South America, belonging to the biological families Characidae, Alestidae (the "African tetras"), Lepidarchidae, Lebiasi ...
and
TETRAPOL TETRAPOL (short for TErrestrial TRunked RAdio POLice) is a digital professional mobile radio standard, as defined by the TETRAPOL Publicly Available Specification (PAS), used by professional user groups such as public safety, military, industry an ...
communication systems for public safety, industry, transportation and defence). This line of business was the first one in the world to begin field tests with TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS). *
EADS 3 Sigma EADS 3 Sigma is the name since 2002 (when its majority was acquired by the European EADS Group) of the Greek 3 Sigma aerospace company. It was founded in 1987 with headquarters in Athens and production facilities in Chania, Crete. It has designed, ...
a Hellenic company focused on the design, development, production and services provision of airborne and surface target drone systems. The
Airbus Military Airbus Military was a business unit of Airbus, which was part of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) from 2009 to 2013. The company was formally created in April 2009 by the integration of the former Military Transport Aircraft ...
division, which manufactured tanker, transport and mission aircraft;
Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
, the world's largest helicopter supplier;
Astrium Astrium was a European aerospace company and subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), headquartered in Paris. It designed, developed and manufactured civil and military space systems and provided related services ...
, provided systems for aerial, land, naval and civilian security applications including
Ariane Ariane may refer to: *Ariana (name), also Ariane, Arianne Arts * ''Ariane'' (Martinů), an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, first performed 1961 * ''Ariane'' (Massenet), an opera by Jules Massenet, first performed 1906 * ''Ariane'' (film), a 1931 ...
,
Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
and
Cassidian Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reve ...
. Through Cassidian, EADS was a partner in the
Eurofighter The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems ...
consortium as well as in the missile systems provider
MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
, formerly known as Eurocopter, is a helicopter manufacturing and support company.


Subsidiaries

* Airbus APWorks * AirBusiness Academy * Airbus Flight Academy * Airbus Group, Inc. – the U.S. holding company for the North American activities of Airbus Group *
Airbus Transport International Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been the ...
– cargo airline managing the transportation of Airbus parts between facilities * Airbus Protect * Airbus Crisa *
Dornier Consulting Dornier Group GmbH is an international consulting and project management company that operates in the fields of traffic, transport, the environment and water. The German parent company was established in 1962 from the former Dornier Planungsbera ...
* GPT * NAVBLUE *
Premium AEROTEC Premium AEROTEC is a German aerospace manufacturing business, headquartered in Augsburg in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Airbus. The company was created in September 2008 as a spin off from the multinational aerospace group EADS, which subs ...
*
Satair Satair is an aircraft component and service company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1957, Satair services range from parts supply and distribution to tailor-made services. The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus in 2011. ...
* Airbus Atlantic * Testia * UP42 * VoltAir


Joint ventures


Largest shareholders

The 10 largest shareholder of Airbus in early 2024 were: *
Government of France The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...
(10.83%) *
Government of Germany The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief Executive (government), executive body of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the Federal level (Germany), federal level. It consists of the Chancellor ...
(10.82%) *
Government of Spain The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the ...
(4.081%) *
The Children's Investment Fund Management The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI) is a British hedge fund management firm founded by Chris Hohn in 2003 which manages the Children's Investment Master Fund. TCI makes long‐term investments in companies globally. It is the 2nd l ...
(3.013%) *
Amundi Amundi is a French asset management company. With €2.247 trillion of assets under management (AUM) in 2025, it is the largest asset manager in Europe and one of the 10 biggest investment managers in the world. Founded on 1 January 2010, t ...
(0.3994%) * Silverbay Capital Management (0.2518%) *
OFI Invest Asset Management OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Clu ...
(0.1688%) *
Crédit Mutuel Crédit Mutuel () is a French cooperative banking group, one of the country's top five banks with over 30 million customers. It traces its origins back to the German cooperative movement inspired by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen in Alsace–Lorr ...
(0.1611%) *
Moneta Asset Management In Roman mythology, Moneta (Latin Monēta) was a title given to two separate goddesses: It was the name of the goddess of memory (identified with the Greek goddess Mnemosyne), and it was an epithet of Juno, called Juno Moneta (Latin Iūno Mon ...
(0.1139%) *
Rothschild & Co Rothschild & Co SCA is a multinational Private banking, private and alternative assets investor, headquartered in Paris, France and London, United Kingdom. It is the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the British and French br ...
(0.1110%)


Senior leadership

The corporate management of Airbus is: * ''Chairman:''
René Obermann René Obermann (born 5 March 1963) is a German businessman who is chairman of Warburg Pincus International LLC's European operations, and chairman of Airbus SE since April 2020. He was previously (from November 2006 to December 2013) CEO of Deuts ...
(since April 2020) * ''Chief Executive:'' Guillaume Faury (since April 2019) ; Former chairmen #
Franz Josef Strauss Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...
(1970–1988) #
Edzard Reuter Edzard Hans Wilhelm Reuter (16 February 1928 – 27 October 2024) was a German businessman. He was the CEO of Daimler-Benz from 1987 to 1995. Early life Edzard Reuter was born in Berlin on 15 February 1928. His father was the popular social dem ...
(1994–1998) #
Jürgen E. Schrempp Jürgen Erich Schrempp (born September 15, 1944, in Freiburg) is the former CEO of Daimler-Benz from May 1995 to December 31, 2005, which became DaimlerChrysler, a German- American car and truck manufacturer. Following a decision of the board tak ...
(1998–2000) #
Manfred Bischoff Manfred Bischoff (born 22 April 1942) is a German businessman who has been the chairman of the supervisory boards of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz. Early life Bischoff was born on 22 April 1942 in Calw, Germany. He earned a degree in Economics, ...
(2000–2007) #
Arnaud Lagardère Arnaud Lagardère (; born 18 March 1961) is a French businessman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lagardère SA, holding company of the Lagardère group and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hachette Livre. He is the son of Jean-Lu ...
(2007–2013) # Denis Ranque (2013–2019) ; Former chief executives #
Henri Ziegler Henri Ziegler CVO, CBE (18 November 1906 in Limoges – 24 July 1998, in Paris) was one of the founders of Airbus and its first president. An engineer, he was a graduate of the École Polytechnique and of "Sup'Aéro" (the national aerospace e ...
(1970–1975) # Bernard Lathière (1975–1984) # Jean Pierson (1985–1998) # Noël Forgeard (1998–2005) # Gustav Humbert (2005–2006) # Christian Streiff (2006) #
Louis Gallois Louis René Fernand Gallois (, born 26 January 1944) is a French businessman. He was the CEO of EADS, the European aeronautic defense and space company, from 2007 to 2012. Education Gallois was born and raised in Montauban, where he received hi ...
(2006–2012) #
Tom Enders Thomas Enders (born December 21, 1958) is a German business executive who served as the chief executive of Airbus (formerly EADS, Airbus Group) from 2012 until 2019. Since 2019, Thomas has been the president of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für ausw ...
(2012–2019)


International manufacturing presence

Airbus has several final assembly lines for different models and markets. These are: *
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
, France (A320 family, A330 and A350) *
Airbus Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airbus Hamburg-Finkenwerder, also known as Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport , is an aircraft manufacturing plant and associated private airport in the Finkenwerder quarter of southwest Hamburg, Germany. The airport is an integral part of the Airb ...
,
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany (A320 family) *
Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
, Spain (A400M and C295) *
Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
, China (A320 family) *
Airbus Mobile The Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility is an assembly site for Airbus's Commercial Airplanes division, located at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The plant is an assembly and delivery site for Airbus commercial ...
,
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
, United States (A220 and A320 family) *
Mirabel, Quebec Mirabel () is a suburb of Montreal, located on the North Shore (Montreal), North Shore in southern Quebec. Mirabel is also the name of a Equivalent territory, territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and Census geographic unit ...
:
Airbus Canada Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been the ...
originator of the
A220 The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (ACLP). It was originally developed by Bombardier Aviation and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was launche ...
Airbus, however, has a number of other plants in different European locations, reflecting its foundation as a consortium. For aircraft assembled in Europe, aircraft parts often move between the different factories and the assembly lines via the use of the
Beluga Beluga may refer to: Animals *Beluga (sturgeon) * Beluga whale Vehicles * Airbus Beluga, a large transport airplane * Airbus BelugaXL, a larger transport airplane * Beluga-class submarine, a class of Russian SSA diesel-electric submarine * U ...
and BelugaXL, a fleet modified aircraft capable of carrying entire sections of fuselage. For aircraft assembled in China and the United States, the parts needed to build an aircraft meet in a single European location where they are loaded onto ships for the final journey to the assembly line. Airbus opened an assembly plant for the A320 family of aircraft in
Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
, China in 2009. Airbus started constructing a $350 million component manufacturing plant in
Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
, China in July 2009, which now employs over 1,000 people. It was fully operational by early 2011, the 30,000 square metre plant manufactures composite parts and assembles composite work-packages for the A350 XWB, A320 families and future Airbus programmes. Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Corporation, Hafei Aviation Industry Company Ltd,
AviChina Industry & Technology AviChina Industry & Technology (AviChina; ) is a partially state-owned publicly listed aviation company headquartered in Beijing. It primarily is involved with aircraft manufacturing, supplying aviation Ancillary Systems and providing aviation e ...
and other Chinese partners hold an 80% stake in the plant while Airbus controls the remaining 20%. In 2022, the Tianjin plant finished upgrading works to allow for production of A321. In 2023, the Tianjin final assembly plant started construction to be expanded with a second production line. North America plays a crucial role for Airbus, both in terms of aircraft sales and suppliers. Of the approximately 5,300 Airbus jetliners sold worldwide, 2,000 are ordered by North American customers. These orders span Airbus' entire product line, from the compact A318 to the massive A380, accommodating 107 to 565 passengers. Notably, US contractors contribute significantly, supporting around 120,000 jobs and generating an estimated $5.5 billion in business. For instance, one variant of the A380 boasts 51% American content in terms of work share value. Plans for a
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
aircraft assembly plant were unveiled by Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier from the Mobile Convention Centre on 2 July 2012. The plans include a $600 million factory at the
Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley The Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley is an industrial complex and airport in Mobile, Alabama, United States, which lies adjacent to the western shore of Mobile Bay. It is owned and operated by the Mobile Airport Authority. It was known by a variety of ...
for the assembly of the
A220 The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (ACLP). It was originally developed by Bombardier Aviation and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was launche ...
, A319, A320 and
A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the b ...
aircraft. It could employ up to 1,000 full-time workers when operational. Construction began on 8 April 2013, and became operable by 2015, producing up to 50 aircraft per year by 2017. On 16 December 2024, it was reported that Airbus has leased 650,000 sq ft of office space in
Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
's Whitefield to build its Global Capacity Centre. The lease is for 10 years and valued at Rs 500 crore, securing the entire building in Titanium Tech Park. This marks a significant milestone for Airbus in strengthening its technology and innovation in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.


Financial information

The key trends of Airbus SE are (as of each financial year ending December 31): In October 2005 the British
Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
warned European politicians to stop, as it saw it, interfering in the corporate governance of EADS. The former UK Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson hinted that the UK government, a major customer for EADS, may withhold future contracts. "As a key customer, we see it as important for EADS to move in a direction that is free from political interference." On 4 April 2006, DaimlerChrysler announced its intention to reduce its shareholding from 30 % to 22.5 %. The company placed a value of the stake at "approximately €2.0 billion." Lagardère was to reduce its holding by an identical amount. However,
Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Caisse, a French word, may refer to: * Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec * Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Q ...
, a unit of the French government, acquired 2.25 % of EADS. At issue, as a result, is the fact that the German and French shareholdings were now in imbalance.Airbus plays catch-up with A350 jet
" Phillips, D. ''
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...
''. 11 April 2006.
On 30 August 2006, shortly after the stock price decline caused by the A380 delivery delays, more than 5 % of EADS stock was reportedly purchased by the Russian state-owned Vneshtorgbank,EADS shares up on Vneshtorgbank reports
."
Yahoo News Yahoo News (stylized as Yahoo! News) is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo. The site was created by Yahoo software engineer Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such ...
. 30 August 2006.
bringing its share to nearly 6 %. In December 2007, Vneshtorgbank sold EADS shares to another state-controlled bank,
Vnesheconombank Vnesheconombank or Vneshekonombank () is shorthand for the Bank for Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs, established in 1988 from the former Foreign Trade Bank of the USSR. It may refer to: * Vnesheconombank (USSR), a Soviet bank in activity from 19 ...
. EADS shares were to be delivered by Vneshekonombank to the charter capital of JSC
United Aircraft Corporation The PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) () is a Russian Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense corporation. With a majority stake belonging to the Russian government, it consolidates Russian private and state-owned Russ ...
in 2008. On 3 October 2006, shortly after EADS admitted further delays in the Airbus 380 programme would cost the company 4.8 billion euros in lost earnings in 2010, EADS shares, traded on the Paris arm of Euronext, were suspended after they surpassed the 10 % loss limit. Trading resumed later in the day with the one-day loss holding at 7 %. In 2007,
Dubai Holding Dubai Holding () is Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum's global investment holding company and personal investment portfolio. Mohamed al-Gergawi built the company's portfolio. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum was appointed ...
acquired 3.12 % of EADS stock, making the Dubai buy-out fund one of the largest institutional shareholders. In 2008, EADS had arms sales equivalent to $17.9 billion, which constituted 28 % of total revenue.The SIPRI Top 100 arms-producing companies, 2008
''
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade a ...
'', 12 April 2010. Retrieved: 4 May 2010.
In April 2013, Daimler sold its shares in EADS. , 73.7 % of Airbus Group stock is publicly traded on six European stock exchanges (
Euronext Paris Euronext Paris, formerly known as the Paris Bourse (), is a regulated securities trading venue in France. It is Europe's second largest stock exchange by market capitalization, behind the London Stock Exchange, as of December 2023. As of 2022, th ...
in France, the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Located in Frankfurt, ...
in Germany, and the four regional stock exchanges
Bolsa de Madrid (; Madrid Stock Exchange) is the largest and most international of Spain's four regional stock exchanges (the others are located in Barcelona, Valencia, and Bilbao) that trade shares and convertible bonds and fixed income securities, and both g ...
, Borsa de Barcelona, Bolsa de Valencia and Bolsa de Bilbao in Spain). 0.6 % of the shares are treasury shares owned by Airbus, while the remaining 25.7% are owned by a "Contractual Partnership". , the partnership is owned by
SOGEPA SOGEPA (Societé de Gestion de Participations Aéronautiques) is a French holding company owned completely by the French Republic. It is one of the largest public bodies investing in European aerospace technology, indirectly owning 10.09% shares of ...
(10.8%), GZBV (10.8%) and
SEPI The State Company for Industrial Investments (, SEPI) is a Spanish state-owned holding company that is characterized as a sovereign wealth fund. It is part of the Ministry of Finance. SEPI was preceded by the Instituto Nacional de Industria (IN ...
(4.1%). SOGEPA is owned by the French State, GZBV is majority owned by the German state-owned investment and development bank KfW, and SEPI is a Spanish state holding company. In April 2020, Airbus announced that it had cut aircraft production by a third due to the COVID-19 outbreak. According to Guillaume Faury, the company was "bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed." The recession put its survival at stake and presented the need for deep job cuts throughout all Airbus departments. 3,000 workers in France were involved in government-assisted furlough schemes.


Environmental record

Airbus has committed to "Flightpath 2050", an aviation industry plan to reduce noise, CO2, and
NOx In atmospheric chemistry, is shorthand for nitric oxide () and nitrogen dioxide (), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tro ...
emissions. Airbus was the first aerospace business to become
ISO 14001 The ISO 14000 family is a set of international standards for Natural environment, environment management systems. It was developed in March 1996 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ...
certified, in January 2007; this is a broader certification covering the whole organisation, not just the aircraft it produces.


Co-development of biofuels

In association with
Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...
and
JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation, stylized as jetBlue, is an American major airline headquartered in Long Island City, in Queens, New York City. Primarily a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue's network features six focus cities including its main hub ...
, Airbus has developed an
aviation biofuel An aviation biofuel (also known as bio-jet fuel, Note: About">Investable Universe>About' sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), or bio-aviation fuel (BAF)) is a biofuel used to power aircraft. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) conside ...
to reduce pollution and dependence on fossil fuels, claiming that this has the potential to replace up to a third of the world's aviation fuel. Algae-based biofuel absorbs carbon dioxide during growth and does not compete with food production. This alternative may be commercially available by 2030 but algae and other vegetation-based fuels are in an early stage of development, and fuel-bearing algae have been expensive to develop. Airbus offers delivery flights to airlines using a 10% biofuel blend in standard engines. The fuel does not cut carbon emissions but is free of sulphur emissions, which demonstrates that the fuel could be used in commercial flights in unmodified engines. On 22 July 2024, at the 2024 Farnborough International Airshow, Airbus and Airports Council International (ACI) World association signed a cooperation agreement to support the industry's efforts to reduce the environmental impact of aviation, including the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).


Hydrogen powered aircraft concepts announced

In September 2020, Airbus unveiled three
liquid hydrogen Liquid hydrogen () is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecule, molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be cooled below its critical point (thermodynamics), critical point of 33 Kelvins, ...
-fueled "ZEROe" concept aircraft that it claims could become the first commercial zero-emission aircraft, entering service by 2035. The design includes an aircraft with six eight-bladed turbo-prop removable motors. At the Airbus Summit in March 2025, Airbus delivered updates on its development of the ZEROe hydrogen powered aircraft.


Controversies


Government subsidies

Boeing has continually protested over "launch aid" and other forms of government aid to Airbus, while Airbus has argued that Boeing receives illegal subsidies through military and research contracts and tax breaks. In July 2004, former Boeing CEO
Harry Stonecipher Harry Curtis Stonecipher (born May 16, 1936) is an American business executive who was president and chief executive officer of American aerospace companies: Sundstrand, McDonnell Douglas, and The Boeing Company. Stonecipher was widely credite ...
accused Airbus of abusing a 1992 bilateral EU-US agreement providing for disciplines for large civil aircraft support from governments. Airbus is given reimbursable launch investment (RLI), called "launch aid" by the US, from European governments, with the money being paid back with interest plus indefinite royalties, but only if the aircraft is a commercial success. Airbus contends that this system is fully compliant with the 1992 agreement and
WTO The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...
rules. The agreement allows up to 33% of the programme cost to be met through government loans, which are to be fully repaid within 17 years with interest and royalties. These loans are held at a minimum interest rate equal to the cost of government borrowing plus 0.25%, which would be below market rates available to Airbus without government support. Airbus claims that since the signature of the EU-US agreement in 1992, it has repaid European governments more than U.S.$6.7 billion and that this is 40% more than it has received. Airbus argues that the military contracts awarded to Boeing, the second largest U.S. defence contractor, are in effect a form of subsidy, such as the controversy surrounding the Boeing KC-767 military contracting arrangements. The significant U.S. government support of technology development via
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
also provides significant support to Boeing, as do the large tax breaks offered to Boeing, which some people claim are in violation of the 1992 agreement and
WTO The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...
rules. In its recent products such as the 787, Boeing has also been offered direct financial support from local and state governments. In January 2005 the European Union and United States trade representatives,
Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...
and
Robert Zoellick Robert Bruce Zoellick (; ; born July 25, 1953) is an American public official and lawyer who was the 11th president of the World Bank Group, a position he held from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2012.Government Pension Fund of Norway The Government Pension Fund of Norway () is the sovereign wealth fund collective owned by the government of Norway. It consists of two entirely separate sovereign wealth funds: the Government Pension Fund Global (or Norges Bank Investment Mana ...
recommended the exclusion of several companies producing
cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehi ...
s or components. EADS and its sister company EADS Finance BV were among them, arguing that EADS manufactures "key components for cluster bombs". The criticism was centred around TDA, a joint venture between EADS and Thales S.A. TDA produced the mortar ammunition PR Cargo, which can be considered cluster ammunition, however this definition has since been successfully battled by EADS. EADS and its subsidiaries are now regarded as fulfilling all the conditions of the
Ottawa Treaty The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...
. According to the new point of view, no product of EADS or its
subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...
falls into the category of antipersonnel mines as defined by the Ottawa Treaty ("
landmine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whi ...
s under the Ottawa Treaty"). In April 2006, the fund declared that the basis for excluding EADS from investments related to the production of
cluster munition A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy veh ...
s is no longer valid, however its shareholding of MBDA means the fund still excludes EADS due to its indirect involvement in
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
s production.


Insider trading investigation

On 2 June 2006 co-CEO Noël Forgeard and Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert resigned following the controversy caused by the June 2006 announcement that deliveries of the A380 would be delayed by a further six months. Forgeard was one of a number of executives including Jean-Paul Gut who exercised
stock option In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the ''holder'', the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified ...
s in November 2005 and March 2006. He and twenty-one other executives are under investigation as to whether they knew about the delays in the Airbus A380 project which caused a 26 % fall in EADS shares when publicised. The French government's actions were also under investigation; The state-owned bank Caisse des Dépots et Consignations (CDC) bought part of Lagardère's 7.5 % stake in EADS in April 2006, allowing that latter to partially escape the June 2006 losses.


Investment in Chinese firm supplying Myanmar military

In 2024, Airbus received negative press attention for increasing their investments in
Aviation Industry Corporation of China The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is a Chinese state-owned publicly-traded aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Beijing. AVIC is overseen by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the ...
, a Chinese company that provides weapons to the Myanmar junta.


Bribery allegations


South Africa

In 2003 Tony Yengeni, former
chief whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...
of South Africa's
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
, was convicted of fraud worth around US$5 billion relating to an arms deal with South Africa, in which Airbus (formerly EADS) were major players. It was claimed that Airbus had admitted that it had "rendered assistance" to around thirty senior officials, including defence force chief General
Siphiwe Nyanda General Siphiwe Nyanda (born 1950) is a former List of South African military chiefs, South African military commander and politician. He was a member of uMkhonto we Sizwe and served as List of South African military chiefs#Chief of the SADF, ...
, to obtain luxury vehicles. In March 2003, South Africa withdrew all charges of bribery against the former head of EADS South Africa, and in September 2004, the prosecutor's office dismissed the bribery charges against Yengeni.


Saudi Arabia

In August 2012 the UK's Serious Fraud Office opened a criminal investigation into an EADS subsidiary, GPT Special Project Management Ltd, regarding bribery allegations made by GPT's former programme director, Ian Foxley. Foxley alleged that luxury cars were bought for senior Saudis, and that millions of
pounds sterling Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...
were paid to mysterious
Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...
companies, possibly to secure a £2 billion contract to renew the
Saudi Arabian National Guard The Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG), also known as the White Army, is one of the three major branches of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The national guard is under the administrative control of the Ministry of National ...
's military telecommunications network. Foxley's allegations were supported by two other GPT employees. The later agreement between Airbus and the SFO on 31 January 2020 excluded the settlement of this case.


British and French investigations

The French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had been jointly investigating irregularities in Airbus marketing practices since 2016, in particular the activities of agents Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Austria, but also China, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Kuwait, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, India, Colombia and Nepal. In July 2016, SFO opened a criminal investigation into "suspicions of fraud, bribes and corruption" after Airbus informed British authorities of a failure to disclose the role played by some intermediaries facilitating the sale of aircraft. Airbus was required to provide this information in order to benefit from export credits, which the British, French and German governments had suspended. In March 2017, the PNF subsequently opened a preliminary investigation into "suspicions of fraud and corruption in civil aviation activities" in cooperation with the SFO. The allegations included that from 2012 onwards Airbus was responsible for recruiting and remunerating intermediaries to influence the award of civil and military contracts. Payments worth hundreds of millions of euros in alleged secret commissions were made and numerous sales including in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
were under suspicion of bribery. The investigation focused on the Airbus, Strategy and Marketing Organization (SMO), the department responsible for negotiating sales contracts and which, La Tribune reported as having "a network and an incredible influence around the world." Directed successively by Jean-Paul Gut and
Marwan Lahoud Marwan Lahoud (Arab: مروان لحود), born March 6, 1966, in Lebanon, is a French-Lebanese weapons engineer, living in France. He was deputy chief executive officer for strategy and marketing for the Airbus group until February 2017. In May ...
, the SMO was dissolved in 2016 under the new executive director, Thomas Enders, as part of a "clean hands" operation. In 2014, in a case referred to as the Kazakhgate affair, a search at
Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
by French authorities found emails confirming that Airbus had agreed in principle to pay €12 million in bribes to the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan to facilitate the sale of helicopters. Officers from the Central Anti-Corruption Office (OCLCIFF) then searched the home of
Marwan Lahoud Marwan Lahoud (Arab: مروان لحود), born March 6, 1966, in Lebanon, is a French-Lebanese weapons engineer, living in France. He was deputy chief executive officer for strategy and marketing for the Airbus group until February 2017. In May ...
on 8 February 2016. This revealed that two Turkish intermediaries had claimed payment of commissions due in connection with the sale of 160 aircraft to China valued at US$10 billion. A message by Lahoud suggested that the commissions could reach US$250 million. The SMO was to conceal these commissions as false invoices for a fictitious Caspian pipeline project. In January 2020, French, British and American courts validated three agreements between Airbus and the PNF, the UK SFO, and the US DoJ. Airbus recognised the charges and agreed to pay fines of €2.1 billion in France, €984 million in the United Kingdom and €526 million in the United States. The penalties were the highest ever issued by the French and British bodies. These settlements close the prosecution of Airbus regarding the Kazakhstan case but not allegations of misconduct in Saudi Arabia, China and Turkey, which Airbus denies. Airbus managers may still be pursued as private individuals.


See also

*
Airbus Training Centre Europe Airbus Training Centre Europe is one of the eight centres of the French aerospace company Airbus SAS dedicated to airline pilot and engineer training. Located at Blagnac, close to Toulouse, France, the centre is approved to deliver courses on the ...
*
Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astro ...
* Airbus affair *
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
*
Bombardier Aerospace Bombardier Aviation, a division of Bombardier Inc., is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. The company currently produces the Global and Challenger series of business jets. At its peak, Bombardier operated manufacturing plants in 27 c ...
*
Comac , type = State-owned , industry = Aviation , founded = , founder = , location_city = Shanghai , location_country = China , area_served = Worldwide , products = , services = , key_people = He Dongfeng (Chairman)Zhao Yuerang (Presi ...
*
Competition between Airbus and Boeing The competition between Airbus and Boeing has been characterized as a duopoly in the large jet airliner market since the 1990s. The duopoly resulted from a series of mergers within the global aerospace industry, with Airbus beginning as a pan- ...
*
Competition in the regional jet market A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner usually defined by having fewer than 100 seats. The first aircraft considered part of this category was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by Douglas DC-9, BAC One-Eleven, Y ...
*
Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil air ...
*
Liebherr Aerospace Liebherr-Aerospace is the aerospace equipment manufacturing division of Liebherr. The company is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM); its low visibility in the minds of end consumers can be attributed to the OEM nature of all of its oper ...
*
United Aircraft Corporation The PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) () is a Russian Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense corporation. With a majority stake belonging to the Russian government, it consolidates Russian private and state-owned Russ ...


Notes


References


Further reading

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External links

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