DUBAI, Nov 19 (Reuters) – German aerospace suppliers have given broad backing to plans by Airbus (AIR.PA) to increase jet production but warn that growing labour shortages are the chief risk to the industry’s growth. European planemaker Airbus, which sets the pace for some 200 suppliers in Germany, has said it is committed to its target of lifting production of A320 jets by some 50% to 65 a month by the summer of 2023, while exploring output rates of up to 75.

The planemaker unveiled more than 400 tentative or firm new orders at the Dubai Airshow this week. Bloomberg News reported that it could add to that with a new A350 freighter order as early as Friday.

“It is a good signal. We are not yet back to the good old times but it is starting back again,” Volker Thum, managing director of German aerospace association BDLI, said after meeting Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury and others at the Dubai Airshow this week. Read more