Airbus will slash the number of suppliers it uses by 80 percent, from 3,000 to 500, as part of a critical restructuring program, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday.
No further information was available on which suppliers would be dropped or the timetable for the cuts, Airbus spokeswoman Marcella Muratore said.
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., which owns Airbus, said last month that it planned to cut costs by 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) annually by 2010.
That announcement came as Airbus doubled the production delay afflicting its new double-decker A380 jet to two years.
Airbus also has been hit by a weaker dollar and fierce competition from U.S. rival Boeing Co., including a new mid-size jet, the 787 "Dreamliner," due to enter service in 2008.
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