Airbus secured orders for 10 A330-900s from an undisclosed customer at the end of October, rounding off a month in which it formally logged eight A330-800s for Kuwait Airways.
The orders take to 242 the total number of firm commitments to the A330neo, although Kuwait remains the only customer for the -800, which commenced test flights on 6 November.
Agreements for the 18 A330neos in October mark the first orders for long-haul aircraft secured by the airframer since early July.
They also amount to the first A330neo order activity since June, when another undisclosed deal for 10 A330-900s broke a six-month drought for the re-engined type.
Airbus firmed a 50-aircraft deal for A321neos with VietJet, which had originally been unveiled at the Farnborough air show, and also recorded 17 A320neos for Lufthansa Group.
Its net orders for 84 aircraft took the overall net total for the year so far to 340, a higher figure than at the same point last year, but otherwise its worst performance since 2009.
Airbus delivered 81 aircraft during October, among them two A220s – including the first A220-100 since the airframer took over the programme in July.
They took overall deliveries for the year to 584, still 216 short of Airbus’s target of 800, with less than two months of the year to run.
Airbus’s deliveries so far in 2018 have included 70 A350s, 34 A330s, eight A380s and 472 single-aisle jets including 10 A220s.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
