Airbus Updates No.2993

 Airbus Delivered 566 Commercial Aircraft To 87 Customers In 2020

Airbus today revealed its confirmed orders and deliveries for 2020. The figures showed that the European manufacturer delivered 566 aircraft to 87 different customers throughout the course of the year. The deliveries mean that Airbus will have beaten its reported informal target if 560 deliveries for the year.

Airbus beat its reported informal target of 560 deliveries this year. Photo: Getty Images

2020 was by far the worst year aviation has ever seen. Indeed, according to an analysis by Cirium, the industry was set back by 21 years to 1999 levels. One may expect this would mean an abysmal year for deliveries. While this was the case for Boeing, with the addition of the 737 MAX grounding, Airbus averaged 47 aircraft deliveries during each month of 2020.

IndiGo goes big

Simple Flying analyzed Airbus’ 2020 delivery book to find out which airline reigned supreme when it came to new aircraft deliveries. India’s IndiGo took 44 aircraft throughout the year, giving it the top spot. Delta came second with 30, while China Southern came third, taking delivery of 22 aircraft.

The top ten airlines for deliveries were,

1. IndiGo (44) – 24 A320neo | 20 A321neo
2. Delta Air Lines (30) – 10 A220-100 | 5 A220-300 | 9 A321ceo | 4 A330-900 | 2 A350-900
3. China Southern (22) – 4 A320neo | 16 A321neo | 2 A350-900
4. Wizz Air (17) – 6 A320neo |  7 A321neo |  4 A321neo (Wizz Air Abu Dhabi)
5. American Airlines (16) – 16 A321neo
6. Air Canada (14) – 14 A220-300
7. Pegasus Airlines (14) – 9 A320neo | 5 A321neo
8. Egyptair (13) – 5 A220-300 | 8 A320neo
9. Turkish Airlines (13)  – 11 A321neo | 2 A350-900
10. SAS (12) – 8 A320neo | 1 A321neo | 3 A350-900

Narrowbody rules supreme

2020 saw single-aisle aircraft outperform their twin-aisle counterparts by a good amount. Across seven product lines, Airbus delivered 484 single-aisle aircraft from the A220 and A320 families.

Meanwhile, when it came to widebody aircraft, the manufacturer delivered just 82 aircraft. This was made up of 19 A330 family aircraft, 59 A350 family aircraft, and four A380s. Airbus had formally ended the Airbus A380 program. However, it still has outstanding deliveries for Emirates. Only five aircraft are yet to be delivered, with the final delivery of the giant of the skies set to take place in May next year.

How do the numbers compare to previous years?

Unsurprisingly, the global aviation crisis had a notable impact on Airbus’ deliveries this year. Over the five years from 2014 to 2019, the manufacturer’s deliveries increased by 37% from 629 to 863. This year, deliveries fell 34% to the lowest figure since 2011 (534 aircraft).

The crisis pushed Airbus to its lowest deliveries since 2011. Graph: Simple Flying (Click on the graph to enlarge)

Commenting on the results in a press release seen by Simple Flying, Guillaume Faury, Airbus Chief Executive Officer, said,

“Working hand-in-hand with our customers allowed us to navigate a difficult year. The Airbus teams, customers and suppliers truly pulled together in the face of adversity to deliver this result. We also thank our partners and governments for their strong support to the sector. Based on our 2020 deliveries we are cautiously optimistic as we look into 2021, although challenges and uncertainties remain high in the short term.”