Airbus’ new orders have now outpaced the rate of its cancellations for the first time this year, with the European planemaker now boasting a net total of new orders minus cancellations of 38 jets for the year-to-date.
The European planmaker received 73 new orders in the month of June, made up almost entirely of United Airlines’ previously announced order for 70 new Airbus A321neo aircraft.
The remaining three orders were placed by undisclosed buyers for one A330-300, one A220-300, and one A321neo.
The June results have seen Airbus log 165 new orders for aircraft so far this year, however when accounting for excessive cancellations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European planemaker stands with a net positive of 38 new orders YTD.
In the same month last year, at largely the height of the pandemic’s first wave, Airbus reported no new orders and 36 deliveries in June 2020.
Further, Airbus delivered a total of 77 aircraft in the month of June across 44 separate customers, up from the 50 deliveries it made in the previous month.
Airbus delivered a total of 62 single-aisle jets from its ever-popular A320 jet family, as well as 11 A350s and three A330s.
The final notable delivery by Airbus in June included that of Emirates’ 120th four-engined A380.
Following the month’s delivery, Emirates will welcome just three more final A380s, following Airbus’ decision to cease making the superjumbo jet.
Meanwhile, June’s new orders were almost entirely made up of United Airlines’ previously-announced order for 70 new Airbus A321neo aircraft, with the remaining order placed by an undisclosed buyer for one A330-300.
The June results have seen Airbus log 165 new orders for aircraft so far this year, however when accounting for excessive cancellations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European planemaker stands with a net positive of 38 new orders YTD.
In the same month last year, at largely the height of the pandemic’s first wave, Airbus reported no new orders and 36 deliveries in June 2020.
In light of the immense popularity of its A320 family, Airbus has recently announced that it will ramp up its production target for its A320 family of aircraft to 45 per month by the end of this year, and up to 64 jets per month by Q2 2023, as industry optimism grows that the COVID crisis nears its end.
Hitting its target of 64 jets by mid-2022 will see Airbus surpass its pre-COVID A320 production level by four jets per month, and also exceed its pre-crisis goal of achieving an output of 63 A320s per month.
Longer term, Airbus is forecasting to see its popular mid-sized A320 family production rate hit 70 per month by the first quarter of 2024, and 75 by 2025.
It comes as analysts and industry consensus sees narrow-bodied medium-haul aircraft leading the aircraft market recovery prospects, due to their appropriate size amid post-pandemic travel demand.
The announcement confirmed recent rumours that Airbus had informed its suppliers to gear up for a near-20 per cent increase in A320 production output by the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, the European planemaker hopes to increase the production on its A220 and A350 family aircraft both to six jets per month by the end of 2022.
Airbus will keep the production of its A330 jets stable at two jets per month for the foreseeable future.
