Airbus deliveries down 50 pct in first half of 2020

July 09, 2020 | 09:34

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Airbus on Wednesday said January-June plane deliveries slumped by half to 196 aircraft compared with the first six months of 2019, highlighting the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

airbus deliveries down 50 pct in first half of 2020

View of the sign of civil aircraft manufacturing company Airbus on the facade of the headquarters on July 8, 2020 in Montoir-de-Bretagne, western France.(Loic VENANCE / AFP)

For the second consecutive month there were no new orders in June, the plane maker added, though it did record 36 deliveries, up from 24 in May and 14 in April.

In the first half of 2019, Airbus made 389 deliveries -- a closely-tracked variable because clients pay most of the cost when they receive the planes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered the aviation sector with border closures preventing deliveries and a slump in traffic leaving most carriers strapped for cash.

Fleets of planes have been parked at airports worldwide, and analysts forecast that air traffic will not return to 2019 levels before 2023.

Airbus registered 298 net orders in the first half of 2020, all signed before the end of April.

That is about a quarter less than last year's 389 orders over the same period.

Airbus estimated last month that production and deliveries would be 40 percent lower than originally forecast for the next two years and said it would have to shed 15,000 jobs.

AFP

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