Airbus booked 250 orders in March and delivered 64 aircraft during the month, headlined by the massive order from Indonesia’s Lion Air for 234 A320-family aircraft., while Hawaiian Airlines ordered 16 A321neo aircraft, in the process becoming a new A320 Family customer.
Airbus’s backlog now stands at 4,948 aircraft, which Airbus described as “breaking the industry record again and ensuring more than seven years of production for the manufacturer.”
The delivery of 64 aircraft during March brought the number of deliveries in the year’s first quarter to 144, representing a 10 per cent increase when compared to the same period in 2012. Also during the first quarter Airbus delivered its 100th A380, which was received by Malaysia Airlines.
Meanwhile Airbus has begun construction of an assembly line in the US for narrow-body aircraft. Final assembly of aircraft at the new facility is expected to begin in 2015 with an initial production rate of four aircraft a month.
