EADS

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 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-Matra, the German DASA and Spanish CASA. The new entity subsequently acquired full ownership of its subsidiary, ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', a joint venture 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, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, along with more recent additions in Canada, Malaysia, United States, Morocco and India.

Airbus' headquarters are legally registered in Leiden, Netherlands, but daily management is conducted from the company's main office located in Blagnac, 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. Since its inception in 2000, the company's shares have been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the four regional Spanish stock exchanges (including the Bolsa de Madrid).

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. In 2006, EADS acquired BAE Systems' 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, and a font similar to Helvetica Black. The logo colours were reflected in the standard Airbus aircraft livery 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
File:Airbus-group-logo.jpeg, 2014–2017
File:Airbus Logo 2017.svg, 2017–present

Products

Civilian

The Airbus product line started with the A300 in 1972, the world's first wide-body, twinjet aircraft. The aircraft greatly benefited from the 1976 introduction of the ETOPS 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 Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean more efficiently than the trijets and four-engined jet aircraft offered by competitors.

They then went on to make the Airbus A310, also a wide-body aircraft. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the Airbus A300, 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 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 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 (''new engine option).''

The wide-body programme led to the introduction of the four-engine A340 in 1991 and the twinjet A330 in 1992. At that time, Airbus wanted to offer four-engined jet aircraft to allow for longer transatlantic 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. Production of the A340 ended in 2011, while the A330 would be re-engineered as the A330neo (''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 in the long-haul 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, a wide-body, twinjet aircraft was introduced in 2013. The A350 was the first Airbus aircraft made largely from carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers. 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 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 joint venture which builds the ATR 42 and ATR 72 regional aircraft.

Corporate jets

Airbus Corporate Jets 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, 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, which builds the Falcon family of smaller business jets.

Military

Airbus Defence and Space 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 with the Airbus A310 MRTT (Multi-Role Tanker Transport) and later the Airbus A330 MRTT, and tactical airlift with the Airbus A400M Atlas. 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 and the C-17 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 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 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 aerospace company CASA.

The company is also a 50% owner of the ArianeGroup joint venture which builds the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle, a 46% owner of the Eurofighter joint venture which builds the Typhoon fighter jet, a 42.5% owner of the Panavia Aircraft joint venture which built the Tornado fighter jet, a 37.5% owner of the MBDA