THE MONTH IN REVIEW: AUGUST 2019

The single-aisle A320 Family logged 16 orders in August for its NEO versions, while 42 jetliners were delivered to 29 customers from the single-aisle A220 and A320 families, as well as the A330neo and A350 XWB product lines.

An undisclosed customer ordered 15 A321XLR versions from the A320 Family, further expanding Airbus’ bookings for this longest-range single-aisle airliner. Based on the stretched-fuselage A321neo version, Airbus launched the A321XLR earlier this year to offer airlines even more range, and also create additional value for operators by bringing 30% lower fuel burn per seat than previous-generation competitor aircraft.

Also logged in August was a private customer’s booking for an Airbus Corporate Jetliner in the ACJ320neo configuration.

The month’s deliveries involved 31 single-aisle aircraft: three A220s and 28 A320 Family jetliners (composed of 19 NEO versions and nine in the CEO configurations); along with 11 wide-body aircraft (six A330s in NEO versions, and five A350 XWBs in the A350-900 and A350-1000 configurations).

Taking the January-to-August delivery activity into account, Airbus provided 66 more aircraft than during the same eight-month period in 2018.

Notable deliveries in August included the first A330neo in the A330-900 version for AirAsia X, and the initial A330-900 in the livery of Portuguese wet lease specialist Hi Fly. Also during the month, Virgin Atlantic received its initial A350-1000 version of the A350 XWB, and Airbus provided the first-ever ACJ319neo to a private customer.

Taking the latest orders and deliveries into account, Airbus’ backlog of jetliners remaining to be delivered as of 31 August stood at 7,172 aircraft. The single-aisle total was composed of 5,810 A320 Family jetliners and 428 A220s; while the wide-body tally involved 613 A350 XWBs, 270 A330s and 51 A380s.