Aircraft
Airbus Sales Boost EADS Results, but Cost Challenges Continue
Strong sales have left the EADS balance sheet looking robust, but it must still get a grip on new Airbus programs
Emirates Airline will demand compensation for the grounding of its A380 fleet due to wing rib cracks. (Photo: Airbus)
Emirates Airline will demand compensation for the grounding of its A380 fleet due to wing rib cracks. (Photo: Airbus)

Despite continuing problems with both the A380 and A350XWB airliner programs, Airbus still serves as the main cash cow at European aerospace group EADS. That was the most obvious conclusion to be drawn from EADS’s annual financial results, announced in Paris on March 8, in which the company reported revenues for 2011 up by 7 percent at €49.1 billion ($64.8 billion) and an increase in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT—excluding one-off charges) of 34 percent, at €1.8 billion ($2.4 billion).