Airbus has announced that it has expanded its order volume with bookings in September for 121 aircraft from its A320, A330 and A350 XWB families; while a total of 49 jetliners from across Airbus’ current production range were delivered to customers and operators during the month.
This brings Airbus backlog to 6,755 aircraft –a new industry record.
Topping the activity in September was Wizz Air’s firming up of its commitment for 110 A321neo aircraft that was signed in June at the Paris Air Show. This agreement, from the largest low-cost carrier serving Eastern and Central Europe, marks the biggest single order ever for the popular A321neo – the longest-fuselage member of Airbus’ new engine option (NEO) jetliner family.
The month’s other booking for Airbus’ single-aisle aircraft product line was from Croatia Airlines, which is acquiring four of the A320neo versions. With these latest transactions, the combined number of A320neo-series aircraft on order exceeds 4,300, and the total customer count has grown to 76.
In September bookings for Airbus A330 widebody jetliners, BOC Aviation ordered two A330-300s and Standard Chartered Bank signed for another two A330-300s – with all four aircraft earmarked for lease to Eva Air.
Completing the month’s A330 new business was RwandAir’s signing of a firm contract for an A330-300 and a shorter-fuselage A330-200 version, making this Republic of Rwanda national flag carrier a new Airbus customer and the first East African client for the long-haul twin-engine airliner.
Also included in the September order book was Groupe Dubreuil’s acquisition of an A350-900 version of Airbus’ new extra-widebody airliner. This brought total A350 XWB orders to 783 from 41 customers.
As of September 30, Airbus’ 2015 gross orders reached 875, with the year-to-date net orders totalling 815 when cancellations are taken into account.
Deliveries during September were composed of 37 A320 Family aircraft, 9 A330s, one A350, and two A380s – representing all aircraft types currently in production at Airbus. This included the initial A330s for Air China and Scandinavian Airlines with the 242 metric tonne maximum takeoff weight (MTOW). The increased MTOW allows airlines to operate longer-range flights at improved operating costs, with this latest evolution of the A330 Family serving as the platform for Airbus’ new engine option version (A330neo).