* Airbus to cut A380 production rate to 6 from 2020
* Will deliver 8 A400M in 2020, from 15 this year
* Production slowdown to impact 3,700 jobs

Airbus on Wednesday confirmed reduced production rates of its double-decker A380 and A400M military aircraft and said up to 3,700 jobs would be impacted in France, Germany, Britain and Spain.

The European aircraft maker is slowing output of the A380, the world's largest passenger jet, due to weak demand, while its A400M has been beset by delays and cost overruns.

Airbus confirmed a floor of six A380 deliveries per year as of 2020, from an anticipated 12 deliveries this year, a production level first mooted when Dubai's Emirates handed it a $16 billion order in January that kept the programme alive. At that rate, the A380 programme will not cover its costs.

Meanwhile, Airbus will deliver eight A400M aircraft in 2020, compared with 15 this year and 11 in 2019, after discussions with launch customer nations.

‘About ten sites will be impacted in Europe. Most workers will be redeployed,’ an Airbus spokesman said, without giving further details on the sites involved.

Two trade union sources at the Works Council meeting said Britain's Filton site, plants in Germany's Bremen and Augsburg, and Spain's factory in Sevilla would be the main ones affected.

Airbus last month struck a draft deal with European buyer nations of the A400M to revamp delivery schedules and ease cash retention clauses but was forced to write off another 1.3 billion euros on the already loss-making project.

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