Airbus shares dip over quality flaw in best-selling A321neo jet

By Tim Hepher, Giulia Segreti and Piotr Lipinski

PARIS, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Shares in Airbus slipped on Friday after the European planemaker acknowledged a quality flaw inside the fuselage of hundreds of best-selling A321neo jets, reviving pressure on the planemaker to stick to a tight delivery timetable this year.

The problem stems from an incorrectly applied coat of primer by an Italian supplier and leaves Airbus facing questions over quality controls in the biggest part of its factory system for the second time in less than a year, industry sources said.

Confirming the issue after the problem was first reported by The Air Current, Airbus said safety was not affected and reaffirmed its existing delivery target of around 870 jets for 2026, compared with 475 handed over between January and August.

"Our full-year guidance was formally stated during our first-half results on 29 July - this remains our current public position," an Airbus spokesperson said.

A repair has been identified and airlines continue to take delivery of affected aircraft, in some cases in exchange for concessions related to future maintenance, industry sources said.

However, some analysts said Airbus delivery progress would remain in focus as the company works to recover from earlier delays.

"While we do not expect this to be material over the long term, this could impact Airbus' ability to hit its 870 delivery target this year," Citi analyst Charles Armitage wrote, adding this would depend on the stance of buyers and extent of repairs.

SHARES LAG OTHER BLUE-CHIP STOCKS

Shares in the world's largest planemaker were down around 1.3%, lagging other CAC 40 blue-chip stocks.

Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie said the availability of a fix should limit any potential impact on deliveries this year.

Airbus is in the midst of a two-pronged effort to hit record deliveries this year, after prolonged pressure on supply chains since the COVID-19 pandemic, while trying to reach a repeatedly delayed production rate of 75 planes a month from about 60 now.

Airbus said the problem involved flawed anti-corrosion coating on strengthening components known as stringers in the forward fuselage of a batch of A321neo jets.

Two industry sources said the problem involved an excessively thin layer of the primer applied by a sub-contractor to Italy's Leonardo, a privately held company called TESI, based in Cicerale, south of Naples.

TESI did not respond to requests for comment. Leonardo confirmed TESI was one of several suppliers for its work on the A321neo, but declined to say whether TESI had carried out the work in this case.

Leonardo is one of two suppliers of stringers for the A321neo alongside in-house aerostructures maker Airbus Atlantic, formerly known as Stelia.

Airbus declined to name suppliers but a spokesperson confirmed that the problem had originated from an external supply source.

Last December, Airbus suffered problems with fuselage panels from a Spanish supplier. That was deemed a quality problem, but unravelling the situation caused months of delivery delays and prompted Airbus to miss its original 2025 delivery target. Airbus indicated the latest problem is less severe.

The A321neo is Airbus' largest single-aisle jet and has been heavily outselling the largest models of Boeing's rival 737 MAX, while leaving European factories with a challenging ramp-up.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Piotr Lipinski; Editing by Jan Harvey, Barbara Lewis and Louise Heavens)