Airbus quietly booked 401 new aircraft orders across July. Airbus signed deals with 11 airline customers over the month in addition to sales to undisclosed customers. The headline sales included a massive 292 aircraft order from four state-owned Chinese airlines, with 100 aircraft, or around 25% of July’s aggregate order going to a single carrier – China Eastern Airlines.
A stellar sales month for Airbus
During the recent Farnborough Air Show, competitor Boeing stole the headlines with several high-profile orders taken over the week. In contrast, the performance of Airbus during the air show appeared somewhat lackluster. But it turns out, Airbus didn’t need the public stage to record a stellar amount of sales in July.
According to monthly order data recently released by Airbus, the Toulouse-based aircraft builder took orders from American Airlines, Jet2, Spirit Airlines, Delta Air Lines, China Southern Airlines, Air China, LATAM, Shenzhen Airlines, easyJet, China Eastern Airlines, and Turkish Airlines. A further ten aircraft were sold in July to one or more undisclosed customers.
At Farnborough in July, Delta Air Lines increased an existing A220 order by 12 A220-300 planes, taking the total A220s due to Delta to 107 aircraft. Also, at the air show, easyJet confirmed an order for 56 A320neo aircraft, and LATAM boosted its existing A320neo orders by a further 17 A321neos.
Airbus didn’t really need the Farnborough Airshow (pictured) to boost its July sales numbers. Photo: Airbus
Massive demand for Airbus narrowbody planes
Earlier in the month, and flying under the radar, were sales to American Airlines, Jet2, and Spirit Airlines. On July 7, Airbus closed a deal with American Airlines for four A321neo aircraft. The following day, July 8, Airbus took an order for three A321neo planes from UK-based Jet2. On July 13, the plane builder accepted an order from Spirit Airlines for five A321neos.
Notably, only one airline customer lined up in July for widebodied aircraft. Turkish Airlines signed for a pair of A350-900s on July 30, meaning 399 of the 401 planes Airbus sold in July were single-aisle aircraft. Of those 399 narrowbodies, 382 were for A320neos and A321neos. The remainder comprised the dozen A220s booked to Delta and 14 A3219neos for China Southern and Air China.
July was a good sales month for Airbus Chief Executive Officer Christian Scherer (pictured). Photo: Airbus
Chinese carriers steal the show at Airbus
The Chinese carriers stole the show in July. Setting a cracking pace for the month, Airbus officially announced the collective order from them for 292 planes on July 1. However, Airbus recorded the orders over three separate days in July. On July 19, Airbus recorded China Southern Airlines’ order for nine A319neos, 23 A320neos, and 64 A321neos – a total of 96 planes.
On July 20, Airbus recorded orders for Air China and Shenzhen Airlines. Airbus is sending five A319neos, nine A320neos, and 50 A321neos (a total of 64 aircraft) to Air China and 18 A320neos and 14 A321neos (a total of 32 aircraft) to Shenzhen Airlines. Airbus rounded out July by recording the order for 32 A320neos and 68 A321neos from China Eastern Airlines on July 29.
“We commend the excellent work by the entire Airbus China team as well as our customers’ teams for having brought to conclusion these long and extensive discussions that have taken place throughout the difficult COVID pandemic,” said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Christian Scherer when publicly announcing the deal with the Chinese carriers. “These new orders demonstrate the strong confidence in Airbus from our customers. It is also a solid endorsement from our airline customers in China of the performance, quality, fuel efficiency, and sustainability of the world’s leading family of single aisle aircraft.”
As of May 31, 2022, the in-service Airbus fleet with Chinese operators totaled over 2,070 aircraft. By the end of July, the in-service Airbus fleet worldwide was 12,696 aircraft.
