Acknowledging the issue after The Air Current flagged it for the first time, Airbus said safety was not affected. (Photo: Reuters)Airbus shares dipped on Friday after the European planemaker admitted to a quality flaw on the fuselage of hundreds of A321neo jets.The shares fell around 1.3%, below CAC 40 blue-chip stocks.The flawAccording to Reuters, industry sources said an improperly applied coat of primer by an Italian supplier had left Airbus to face questions over quality controls in the major part of its factory system for the second time in a year.A privately held company called TESI, which is a subcontractor to Italy’s Leonardo, applied an excessively thin layer of the primer on strengthening components known as stringers in the forward fuselage of a batch of A321neo jets, Reuters reported, citing two sources.The delay in delivery and a hiked targetAcknowledging the issue after The Air Current flagged it for the first time, Airbus said safety was not affected and reasserted its existing delivery target of about 870 jets for 2026, compared to 475 handed over between January and August.Airbus is making an effort to hit record deliveries this year, trying to address prolonged pressure on supply chains since COVID-19. The aim is to reach a repeatedly delayed production rate of 75 planes a month, up from about 60 now.Airbus suffered problems with fuselage panels last December from a Spanish supplier. It was termed a quality problem, unravelling which caused months of delivery delays, and Airbus missed its original 2025 delivery target. Airbus stated that the latest problem is less severe.“Our full-year guidance was formally stated during our first-half results on 29 July – this remains our current public position,” Reuters quoted an Airbus spokesperson as saying.Story continues below this adA repair to the flaw has been identified, and airlines continue to accept delivery of affected aircraft, often against concessions related to future maintenance, Reuters reported, citing industry sources.However, some of the analysts say the defect-induced delay is not expected to stay over long term, this could impact Airbus’ ability to hit its 870 delivery target this year.