Airbus sold just one new jet but delivered 40 in September

Airbus Photo: A319neo landing

Airbus struggled to make new orders, with just one new aircraft booked during the month. Jetliner deliveries were flat in September, compared with the previous month. It did manage to get 40 aircraft delivered, six of which were widebodies, but is still below its target output for the year as a whole.

The jetmaker secured just one order in September. This is quite a dip compared to its August performance, when it booked orders for 102 aircraft – its best month for sales since the start of the crisis. However, there have been months when it has reported zero new orders, so it’s certainly not its worst month for sales.

Airbus’ sole order for September was for an A319neo for a private customer. It’s the first A319neo order of 2021, and only the 70th ever ordered at all. To date, just three A319neos have been delivered to customers, all of the ACJ319neo corporate/private jet iteration.

The A319neo is a pretty niche aircraft. In terms of capacity, it is on a similar footing as the cheaper and highly efficient A220-300. While it does have better range compared to the A220 (3,400 nautical miles) is butchering sales of the baby neo (3,750 nautical miles), because the A220-300 is so much cheaper to operate.

Interest in the variant has been low, the A319neo’s order backlog is 67 (70 ordered, 3 delivered) as of Sept. 2021, only a fraction of that of the A220, following confirmation of orders from JetBlue and Moxy for 60 A220s each. Airbus said it expects fewer orders due to competition with the A220-300, it has no plans to discontinue the A319neo.

As a private jet, the A319neo is a superb option, however. Its additional fuel tanks can increase its range to 12,500 kilometers (7,767 miles), and its wide, spacious cabin gives private customers plenty of room to play with for their luxury interior designs.

Deliveries

Airbus has kept a decent pace with new aircraft deliveries in September. In total, 40 aircraft were delivered to 25 different customers in September 2021. Predictably, most were narrowbody aircraft, with 34 delivered.

Airbus delivered a total of four A220-300s, two of which went to all A220 operator airBaltic. Air France received its very first A220, while Air Tanzania took one.

From the A320 family, 30 total aircraft were delivered. Most were A320neos, with 20 leaving the Airbus factory. Customers included Spirit Airlines, Frontier, IndiGo, Go First, British Airways, and China Eastern. Nine A321neos were delivered, including for American Airlines, SAS, Wizz Air, and ANA. One A321ceo also left the factory, heading to Delta Air Lines.

On the widebody side, six aircraft went to their owners during September. Four A330s left, three of which were -900neos, two for Lion Air and one for Air Belgium. The A330ceo was for Airbus Defense and Space. These were accompanied by two A350-900s, both of which went to Japan Airlines.

Although delivery figures are healthy, they are below where Airbus wants to see them. The jetmaker is targeting output of at least 40 A320 family aircraft for the rest of the year, so has some ground to make up in this respect.