Airbus delivered 57 jets in September, up from 39 in August, bringing its annual total for deliveries to 341, a figure down 40% on the same period in 2019. Many of the jets have been delivered from a parked backlog as the European planemaker continues to operate at a reduced output owning to the dramatic drop in demand because of the COVID-19 crisis. Airbus is still targeting 500 deliveries for the whole of 2020, having posted a record number of 863 delivered jets in 2019.
For the first time in ten years Boeing cut its long-term demand forecasts and while Airbus recorded 379 sold aircraft this year, which equates to 300 net sales after cancelations, this is appreciably better than figures released by Boeing, though Airbus recorded no new sales during the month of September. With multiple 737 MAX order cancelations, the American planemaker had only sold 67 aircraft by the end of August, leaving a negative net balance after cancelations of 378 orders. Between January and August Boeing had managed to deliver just 87 jets.