Airbus closed deals for 20 A220-300 jets in March, however, customers were not revealed, as it was in February with 10 A320neo. With the new aircraft, the total orders in 2021 reached 39 units, but thanks to the cancellation of 100 orders, the backlog oscillated negatively.
The A320neo family is the most affected by cancellations, with 97 fewer orders, according to a company report.
In March, some contracts went through adjustments without cancellations. Lessor Avolon and SMBC replaced orders for A320neo and A321neo while Spirit Airlines exchanged six A319neo for the same amount of A320neo.
Airbus won some orders from Chinese airlines such as China Eastern (3 A320neo) and Air China (an A321neo), however, there were 17 cancellations of the A320neo and seven A321neo involving undisclosed customers. This movement led the backlog to grow modestly, to 20,315 aircraft.
Deliveries grow
If more bulky deals are still missing, at least Airbus has celebrated significant growth in deliveries. In March, 72 commercial jets were delivered, 40 more than in February.
The figures are twice as high as March 2020 deliveries and show recovery mainly in the A320 family, which had 60 planes sent to customers against 30 in the same month last year.
Airbus also managed to deliver eight widebodies, seven of which are A350-900 and one A350-1000. By February, only two double-aisle planes had been delivered.
