Airbus announces modest improvement to deliveries

Airbus announced that it has delivered 36 commercial aircraft in June, which is a small improvement compared with May and an indication of the beginning of a recovery following the impact of COVID-19. During the first half of 2020, the aircraft manufacturer 196 airframes to customers.

The manufacturer has also revealed a total of 298 net orders for its commercial aircraft, compared with 389 in the first half of 2019.

In June, the company reported a 40% decline in business activity since COVID-19 crisis and stated it would adjust production rates to match the decline in demand. The announcement of these cuts followed the company’s statement in early April of a plan to reduce production by about a third across its product line.

“Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced,” said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury in a June 30 statement. “The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers. To confront that reality, we must now adopt more far-reaching measures.”