;Airbus Industrie today marked the delivery of its 2,000th aircraft since the establishment of the European jetliner manufacturer 30 years ago. The aircraft, an A340-300, was delivered to German flag carrier Lufthansa at Airbus Industrie's headquarters in Toulouse, France. ;"Airbus Industrie's goal is to maintain half of the market share for commercial airliners in terms of value, and achieving milestone deliveries like this is an important indication that the market supports the targets we have set for ourselves, those of providing more value to our customers as well as value to our shareholders," said Noël Forgeard, Airbus Industrie Chief Executive Officer. ;Airbus Industrie boasts a customer base of 163 airlines and 168 operators, with a product line that has grown from one aircraft type, the A300, in 1974 to 12 types today, including the standard-setting A300/A310 Family and fly-by-wire A320 and A330/A340 Families. Lufthansa has been a loyal Airbus Industrie operator since February 1976 when it took delivery of its first A300. This aircraft represents Lufthansa's 150th Airbus delivery. Lufthansa currently operates 20 A319s, 33 A320s, 20 A321s, 13 A300s, seven A310s and now 20 A340s and has placed firm orders for a total of 164 Airbus Industrie aircraft, making it both the largest Airbus Industrie airline customer and operator. ;With a backlog of almost 1400 aircraft on firm order, Airbus Industrie has been increasing production over the past years in order to meet the demand of satisfied customers. It took Airbus Industrie 23 years to deliver its 1000th aircraft - an A320 to Northwest Airlines - in March 1993; the second thousand units took only six years. In 1999, Airbus Industrie will deliver more aircraft than it did in its first nine years of production. At current production rates, the 3,000th aircraft will be delivered in less than three years. ;Airbus Industrie continues to move towards its goal of a sustained share of half of all jetliner orders, and growth in deliveries is reflected in that progress. Airbus Industrie delivered less than one percent of all commercial jetliners in 1974, but that share of deliveries grew to 30 percent in 1998 and will reach 40 percent in 2000. Currently, Airbus Industrie jetliners have accumulated more than 35 million flight hours in 17.2 million revenue flights.
