Airbus delivered 64 jets in November, down 34pc so far this year

PARIS: Airbus delivered 64 aircraft in November, bringing the total so far this year to 477, down 34% from the first 11 months of 2019 as COVID-19 curbs demand, the planemaker said on Monday.

Deliveries included seven wide-body A350 jets and 56 single-aisle jets including 54 of the main A320neo narrow-body family.

Deliveries are being closely scrutinized by investors as they generate much-needed cash during the coronavirus crisis.

The figures confirm an earlier Reuters report that Airbus was heading towards a total of 550 or more deliveries in 2020 after a November tally in the mid-60s, including as many as seven A350s and more than 50 narrow-body jets.

November's deliveries retreated from 72 seen in October this year and fell 17% from the 77 handovers posted in November 2019.

Boeing said on Friday it had delivered zero 787 jets in November, prompting it to lower their output to five aircraft a month. The 787 is one of two models competing with the Airbus A350, which is being produced at a rate of 4.5 a month.

Lower travel due to the pandemic is weighing heavily on new orders.

Airbus sold no aircraft in November, marking the fourth time since European lockdowns began in March that it has gone a month without posting new business as it focuses on getting aircraft delivered. It has 7,302 orders yet to be fulfilled, equivalent to more than a decade of production at current depressed rates.

Between January and November, it posted 381 orders, or a net total of 297 after cancellations, including 11 freshly reported.

The net total includes 10 new cancellations for A220-100 aircraft originally ordered by Bahrain's Gulf Air. There has been doubt over the future of the order since 2018 when Airbus bought the regional jet programme from Canada's Bombardier.

Airbus inherited the orders from the Canadian company which sold the 10 jets, then known as CSeries, to Gulf Air in 2012.

Airbus also took another cancellation from Macquarie Financial Holdings, a leasing unit of Australia's Macquarie Group, which has been trimming jet orders.