Airbus has announced aircraft production rate cuts along with its March 2020 summary.
Production Rate Cuts
Due to COVID-19, Airbus is decreasing the production rate for its A320, A330, and A350 Family aircraft.
The new rates:
- A320 to rate 40 per month (originally 60-63)
- A330 to rate 2 per month (originally 3.5)
- A350 to rate 6 per month (originally 10)
As for the A220, the Montreal-Mirabel factory will be producing them at 4 per month. The Mobile, Alabama A220 factory has been suspended until the end of the month. Mobile is expected to continue at 1-2 per month once it resumes.
Aircraft Delivered/Produced In March 2020
Boeing delivered 36 aircraft in March 2020, which was down from 55 in February 2020 due to customers deferring aircraft as a result of COVID-19.
Three new airlines received their first A320neo in March 2020:
- Swiss
- EgyptAir
- flyadeal
Aeroflot received its first of 22 Airbus A350-900s last month.
Aircraft Produced In 1st Quarter 2020:
For January 2020 through March 2020, Airbus delivered 122 aircraft.
However, 60 aircraft remain undelivered due to aircraft deferrals.
March 2020 Orders:
- AerCap increases A320neo from 158 to 183 aircraft
- AerCap increases A321neo from 108 to 133 aircraft
- 10 A350s from undisclosed customer
- For March 2020, Airbus secured 21 net orders.
For 1st Quarter 2020, Airbus secured a total of 290 net orders.
March 2020 Cancellations:
- LATAM cancels 4 A350-900s (17 to 13)
- LATAM cancels 6 A350-1000s (8 to 2)
- Kuwait Airways cancels 5 A350-900s (10 to 5)
- SaudiGulf cancels 16 A220-300s (16 to 0)
- Avolon Aerospace cancels 6 A320neos, 2 A321neos, 4 A330-900neos.
Overall, 356 orders with 66 cancellations, resulting in 290 net orders for 1st Quarter 2020.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury’s Statement:
“The impact of this pandemic is unprecedented. At Airbus, protecting our people and supporting the fight against the virus are our chief priorities at this time. We are in constant dialogue with our customers and supply chain partners as we are all going through these difficult times together. Our airline customers are heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. We are actively adapting our production to their new situation and working on operational and financial mitigation measures to face reality.”
Sources/Images
Sources:
Airbus PR:
https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2020/04/airbus-provides-update-on-march-commercial-aircraft-orders--deliveries-and-adapts-production-rates-in-covid19-environment.html
https://www.airbus.com/aircraft/market/orders-deliveries.html
Detailed Orders/Deliveries:
https://twitter.com/rschuur_aero/status/1247934765384241157
Airbus records 15 A350 cancellations but reveals order for 10 | News | Flight Global
Images:
Airbus
Aeroflot A350: Latest aviation photos on JetPhotos
LATAM A350: A7-AMB | Airbus A350-941 | Qatar Airways (LATAM Airlines) | Do Phi Khanh | JetPhotos
Overall, pretty interesting month with everything going on in the world. Airbus continues to lead with more orders in the first quarter of 2020 than Boeing.
What are your thoughts on these production cuts, orders, and cancellations?
