*

Airbus says faces gaps in engine supply from Pratt &

Whitney

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Delay comes on top of gaps in supplies from engine maker

CFM

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Airbus burns cash but posts higher profit in second

quarter

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Now expects Spirit Aero deal to close in fourth quarter

(Recasts after media and analyst calls, adds context)

By Tim Hepher

PARIS, July 30 (Reuters) - European planemaker Airbus

on Wednesday revealed a growing queue of aircraft

waiting for engines before they can be delivered to airlines,

but reaffirmed its delivery goals for the year after securing

promises over supplies from engine makers.

The world's largest planemaker said it had 60 so-called

"gliders" or otherwise complete airframes sitting outside its

factories, up from an estimate of 40 last month, but reaffirmed

the target for a 7% rise in annual deliveries to 820 jets.

"It won't be a walk in the park; it will be more

back-loaded than we would like," CEO Guillaume Faury told

analysts, adding that engine makers had agreed to support the

delivery target.

Airbus has faced fluctuating supplies from its largest

supplier CFM International, co-owned by GE Aerospace and

Safran, but delays have spread to its RTX-owned

rival Pratt & Whitney in the wake of a recent strike, Airbus

said.

Although the gap in Pratt engine supplies for Airbus is new,

the lion's share of delays remain with CFM, it told analysts.

The engine makers did not respond immediately to requests

for comment.

Despite struggling to find enough engines to prevent a

5% drop in deliveries in the first half, analysts say Airbus is

continuing to produce narrow-body jets at close to pre-COVID

levels to avoid injecting new volatility into supply chains.

But the higher industrial pace has meant building up extra

inventory and Airbus data showed it had burned through 1 billion

euros ($1.14 billion) more cash than the market expected in the

second quarter, while keeping its financial targets for the year

intact.

However, it posted a higher-than-expected second-quarter

profit, boosted by its defence and helicopter businesses.

A330NEO OUTPUT HIKE

Airbus, which also makes satellites, fighters and civil and

military helicopters, said its widely watched adjusted operating

profit almost doubled to 1.58 billion euros as revenues remained

broadly flat at 16.07 billion euros.

A strong increase in profit had been widely expected after

Airbus took a hefty charge on its space business a year ago, but

the results slightly beat forecasts in Defence and Space, the

company's second-largest division, as well as Helicopters.

Analysts were on average expecting adjusted operating income

of 1.47 billion euros on revenues of 15.78 billion euros in the

second quarter, according to a company-compiled consensus.

Airbus announced plans to raise production for its A330neo

jet to five a month in 2029, from four now, to meet rising

wide-body demand, while keeping other production targets

unchanged.

Faury hailed a weekend agreement to keep aircraft and parts

out of U.S. tariffs imposed on Europe under an EU-U.S. trade

deal as a "welcome development for our industry".

Airbus said it expected a deal to acquire assets from

struggling parts supplier Spirit AeroSystems ( SPR ), which is

being divided up between Airbus and its U.S. rival Boeing ( BA )

, to close in the fourth quarter, months later than

originally expected.

Both Airbus and Boeing ( BA ) have had to advance cash to their

mutual supplier while the rare transaction awaits regulatory

approval, though this is yet to have a major financial impact.

Spirit makes wings for Airbus' smallest jet, the A220, at a

factory in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Airbus is expected to

absorb this activity as well as a plant in North Carolina that

makes a key section of the A350 when the deal is completed.

Airbus said it was working to head off a potential strike at

a much larger wings factory in Wales and reaffirmed plans to

inaugurate a second A320-family assembly line at Tianjin in

China before the end of this year, with output to start in 2026.

($1 = 0.8721 euros)