PARIS: Airbus is on course to end 2019 with a rise in its order backlog after netting more sales than deliveries across its major products, a senior executive said, thanks partly to strong demand in Asia. Airbus is expected to beat arch-rival Boeing in orders and, unusually, in deliveries this year as the Boeing 737 MAX remains grounded with its production now also halted.
The launch of a long-range new version of the mainstay Airbus A321 medium-range jet, and a wave of business in Asia, has led to a higher-than-expected haul for Europe’s planemaker.
Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer, who stepped up from the ATR turboprop affiliate to take the top Airbus sales job just over a year ago, hinted that Airbus would top 1,000 gross orders this year, up at least 20 per cent from 2018.
The robust performance comes despite trade tensions and US tariffs on Airbus jets in a transatlantic subsidy dispute, though Scherer insisted trade duties posed a “very serious problem” for airline clients.
Noting that Airbus has won 940 orders so far this year, Scherer said the planemaker expected to reach a milestone by the end of the year, in a clear sign it would cross the 1,000 mark.
He also said Airbus would show a book-to-bill ratio above one for every civil programme, meaning net orders after cancellations would exceed delivery volumes. “That includes the most recent arrival in the family, the A220,” Scherer said. The prediction appeared to exclude the A380, which is no longer being sold.
Airbus notched up 940 gross sales and 718 net orders after cancellations in the first 11 months.
It targets 860 deliveries, having lowered that 2019 goal due to delays in production of the A321neo. Scherer said Airbus was working to ease the problem but that it would take time to absorb the delays completely. It has not yet decided whether to build a new A321neo assembly line, he added.
Boeing sold 243 jets or an unadjusted net total of 56 after cancellations between January and November. That excludes a tentative deal from British Airways owner IAG for 200 of its grounded 737 MAX that is yet to be confirmed. While the MAX is on backfoot, Boeing has sold 75 of its 787 Dreamliners. — Reuters
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