The company, which is in the process of selling its Test and Services monitoring business, will also carry out "active portfolio management" in coming months, he reiterated.

Confirming a two-speed strategy as reported by Reuters on Wednesday, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Marwan Lahoud said commercial aviation at Airbus would strive for growth and defense and space would consolidate their positions.

"We will not allocate resources to areas where growth is difficult to access," Lahoud said.

He was speaking in London at an annual investor forum that was being webcast for the first time.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Keiron Henderson)