New business logged by Airbus during May involved 77 orders for the popular single-aisle A320 Family, as well as six A350 XWBs to raise total bookings for this new Xtra Widebody jetliner above the 800 mark. The month’s 57 deliveries included aircraft from across the company’s product lines.
All six A350 XWBs added to the order book are A350-900s for Philippine Airlines, bringing overall bookings for the twin-engine jetliner to 802 from 42 customers as of 31 May.
For the A320 Family, the month’s bookings were led by an order of 45 A320neo (new engine option) and 15 A321neo aircraft from an undisclosed customer, which is a new client for the NEO jetliner. Another undisclosed customer acquired 12 A320ceo (current engine option) and three A321ceo versions.
Completing the month’s transactions was an order from Philippine low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air for two A320neo aircraft.
Taking cancellations into account, Airbus’ net orders in 2016 totalled 162 aircraft at the end of May, composed of 46 A320/A321ceo, 60 A319/A320/A321neo, 17 A330ceo, 14 A330neo and 25 A350 XWB jetliners.
The month’s deliveries involved 48 A320 Family aircraft, three A330s, three A350 XWBs and three A380s.
Among the deliveries was the first A320neo to India’s GoAir, which become the world’s third operator to receive a new engine option version of the A320 Family. GoAir’s A320neo is powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, and is the first of 72 A320neo aircraft ordered by the Mumbai, India-based airline.
Single-aisle deliveries during the month also included five A320ceo aircraft for the Lufthansa Group, along with three A321ceo jetliners provided to American Airlines – including the first for this U.S. carrier from Airbus’ new final assembly line at Mobile, Alabama.
Among the widebody deliveries in May were one A350 XWB each to Latin America’s LATAM and Singapore Airlines, along with the first A350 XWB for Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific – making it a new operator of the jetliner. Widebody deliveries also included two A380s provided to Emirates and one to Etihad Airways.
As of May 31, Airbus’ backlog stood at 6,759 aircraft to be delivered.
