Airbus to pay special dividend as jet sales soar: Plane maker cashes in on crisis at rival Boeing

Soaring demand: Airbus said it will hand out an extra €1 per share on top of its regular payout of €1.80

Airbus will pay a special dividend this year as it cashes in on the crisis at rival Boeing.

The world’s largest commercial plane maker said it will hand out an extra €1 per share on top of its regular payout of €1.80 a share. Its cash pile has topped the £9billion threshold, which is a trigger for returning more cash to shareholders.

The French group saw bumper demand last year, with 2,094 aircraft ordered, up from 820 in 2022. It expects to deliver about 800 commercial aircraft this year, up 65 on 2023.

Chief executive Guillaume Faury said: ‘We progressed on our production ramp-up against a backdrop of an operating environment that remains complex and affected by supply chain challenges and geopolitical conflicts – so that’s quite an achievement.’

Airbus posted an 11 per cent rise in revenues to £56billion and a 4 per cent rise in profit to £5billion.

Arch-rival Boeing is grappling with its latest crisis after part of a door on a 737 Max detached at 16,000ft last month.

US authorities have stopped Boeing increasing output of its 737 Max 10 planes while it probes the manufacturing processes.