Airbus Updates No.792

The month in review: August 2012

	A300/A310	A318/319/320/321	A330/A340/A350	A380	Total
Total orders	816	8630	2160	257	11863
Total deliveries	816	5232	1277	81	7406
Aircraft in operation	481	5071	1257	81	6890

Airbus marked several achievements in August, with the 114 orders adding new customers for both its A320neo and A350-1000, as well as taking total A320 Family bookings above the 8,600 mark; while the 38 aircraft provided to customers included the first A330-200F for a new operator of this mid-sized freighter, along with another A380 for the flagship jetliner’s largest airline user.

The August orders were led by Philippine Airlines’ contract for 34 A321ceo (current engine option) and 10 A321neo (new engine option) aircraft, plus 10 A330-300s. This carrier’s purchase supports a major fleet modernisation programme.

Another major booking was China’s ICBC Financial Leasing Co. Ltd. order for 30 A320ceo and 20 A320neo jetliners. In addition to making ICBC Leasing the A320neo’s first Chinese customer, the booking expands this company’s Airbus portfolio in anticipation of increasing aviation market demand across China and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as elsewhere in the world.

Completing the month’s new business was Cathay Pacific’s order for 10 A350-1000s, plus a conversion of 16 of its A350-900s into the -1000 version. This makes the Hong Kong-based airline the fifth A350-1000 customer, and follows its Farnborough Airshow announcement for the booking, which subsequently was approved by Cathay Pacific’s board as planned.

With the August transactions, Airbus’ total net orders so far in 2012 totalled 384 aircraft.

Deliveries in August were composed of 32 single-aisle A320 Family jetliners, along with five widebody A330s and one A380. They bring overall deliveries in 2012 through August to 364 aircraft, received by 74 customers.

Operators taking multiple A320 Family deliveries during the month included Air Berlin, Air China, Avianca, China Eastern Airlines, easyJet, IndiGo, Sichuan Airlines, SMBC Aviation Capital (for Thai Smile) and US Airways.

For Airbus twin-engine widebodies, deliveries were the first A330-200F cargo aircraft for MNG Airlines – Turkey’s dedicated freight operator, an A330-200 passenger aircraft for China Southern Airlines, and one A330-300 each to Air China, AerCap (for Virgin Atlantic) and Malaysia Airlines.

An A380 received by Emirates in August marked the 14th delivered by Airbus so far in 2012, and the 81st provided to eight operators worldwide. These airlines are performing a combined total of more than 100 flights daily with the double-deck airliner, carrying over 1 million passengers per month.