Airbus Oberon satellite system, ordered by the UK MoD during the first quarter of 2025. Photo: Airbus

Revenues in the Airbus Defence and Space segment were up 11% year over-year in the first quarter, as Airbus reported Q1 2025 results on Thursday. CEO Guillaume Faury expressed support for the push to make the European defense industry more competitive, saying Airbus is “looking at different scenarios to create scale in the European space business.” 

Defence and Space revenue increased 11% year-over-year to 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), with higher volumes across business lines. 

EBIT Adjusted at Airbus Defence and Space was 77 million euros ($87 million) compared to -9 million euros ($-10 million) in the same time last year, which reflected higher volumes and improved profitability for air power services and connected intelligence.

The segment took -105 million euros (-118 million) of adjustments related to the Airbus Defence and Space workforce adaptation plan. Last year, the company announced plans to cut up to 2,500 positions in the group. 

Defence and Space logged 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion) of orders in the first quarter, including the award from the U.K. Ministry of Defence to build two synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites as part of the Oberon program.

European defense primes Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo are in talks for a possible merger of their space businesses. Faury said Airbus is continuing to look at “different scenarios to create scale in the European space business.” 

He highlighted a “geopolitical shift” for Europe to strengthen defense capabilities. 

“It will require both a consolidation of demand and further industrial cooperations to create scale and speed,” Faury said of the shift. “Airbus is committed to European defense and strategic autonomy. And we stand ready and we already do support our government customers with our strong portfolio of products and solutions.” 

Overall, Airbus reported consolidated revenues up 6% year-on-year to 13.5 billion euros ($15 billion). Faury talked about the impact of U.S. tariffs on the company’s commercial aviation business, saying when Airbus exports planes to the U.S., “that’s an import for the customers and they’re not very much willing to pay tariffs – but it’s on them.” 

Faury said Airbus is looking at exporting to countries other than the U.S. for airlines who have international operations. 

“We are of the opinion and we believe that the situation should come back to the previous ex-ante situation where civil aerospace parts, equipment and systems, including planes, were free of tariffs. That has benefited the industry at large and potentially primarily the U.S. industry,” Faury said.