Aircraft manufacturer Airbus will reportedly cut production rates of its A330 jet planes as it plans to switch to its upgraded version, the A330 neo plane.
Airbus sets to materialize its plan coming 2015 by reducing the number of A330 jets produced per month-the plane maker plans to make only 9 a month compared to 10 in the last quarter.
Airbus debuted the A330 neo during the Britain's Farnborough air show last July and it is set to arrive on airports towards the end of the year in 2017.
Analysts predicted that the production rate of the A330 planes will decrease to 6 or 8 per month over the following years.
However, the Toulouse-based company stated that they want to keep the production of the said model at "fairly stable" levels while it is still moving towards adopting the newer version of the plane.
Airbus launched the A330 neo in July, and has already received over 120 orders for the planes.
A spokesman for Airbus stressed that although production will decrease, no jobs will be cut during the process because the company likewise is also planning to increase its production of the A350 jet, reportedly set for service on Qatar Airways before they year ends.
"With the recent commercial success we've seen following the launch of the A330neo, in addition to the new 242 tonne weight variant and the A330 optimized for regional routes, we are confident we will sustain a steady production towards the A330neo ramp-up period," Tom Williams, Airbus executive vice president programs, said in a statement in Reuters.
Meanwhile, Boeing is also reportedly is planning to upgrade to more fuel-efficient planes, replacing existing orders for Next-Generation 737 800s planes to a more updated 737 Max 8s.
Both Boeing and Airbus have been receiving orders for new jetliners and are replacing aging less fuel efficient fleets and increasing production of newer single-aisle airplanes.
