Airbus managed to deliver 566 aircraft last year, with a surge of 89 deliveries in the final month of 2020.
The figure was nevertheless 34% down on the 863 it managed to hand over in the previous year, as the airframer’s activity suffered from the impact of the air transport crisis.
Airbus started reducing production on its A320neo, A330 and A350 lines in April, cutting overall monthly output by a third.
The overall 2020 output comprised 484 single-aisle jets, among them 38 A220s.
Airbus also delivered 59 A350s, 19 A330s and four A380s.
It achieved a total of 268 net orders. This figure was a fall of 29 aircraft on the 297 it had logged at the end of November.
Order activity in December continued to be weak with firm agreements for just two A330s – including a single A330-800 for Air Greenland.
“Working hand-in-hand with our customers allowed us to navigate a difficult year,” says Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury.
He says that the delivery figure, while reflecting the impact of the pandemic and the production cuts, allows Airbus to be “cautiously optimistic” for 2021. But he adds that uncertainties “remain high in the short term”.
