Azorra has placed an order for 22 A220-family aircraft including 20 A220-300s and two ACJ TwoTwenty aircraft. Azorra, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, is an aircraft lessor focused on executive, regional and mid-size aircraft.
“The A220 is ideally suited for Azorra’s growing portfolio. We are excited to partner with Airbus on this popular, next generation aircraft. We look forward to offering its superior economics and environmental efficiency to our customers,” said John Evans, CEO of Azorra. “We are also thrilled with the opportunity to expand Azorra’s executive jet leasing business with the new ACJ TwoTwenty. Azorra’s new partnership with Airbus and unique ability to offer fleet transition solutions for airlines and executive jet leases to business aviation customers are key differentiators that bring significant value to our customers. ”
“We warmly welcome Azorra as a new Airbus partner and salute this decision by a renowned player in the regional aviation space. We have seen a significant market appetite for the A220 Family from a growing and diverse customer base. The addition of Azorra’s capabilities in the regional airline segment is a welcome endorsement for the A220 versatility,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International. “This agreement will enhance Azorra’s portfolio strategy of investing in the most comfortable and modern technology aircraft in this segment while it will also enable us to offer A220 Family solutions to an increasingly wider spectrum of airlines”, he added.
As of the end of December 2021, the A220 had accumulated 668 orders from 25 customers.
Meanwhile, Airbus has confirmed that it has achieved its delivery target for 2021. Last year, Airbus delivered 611 commercial aircraft to 88 customers in 2021, noting in a media release that these figures demonstrate resilience and recovery with progress on ramp-up plans.
“Our commercial aircraft achievements in 2021 reflect the focus and resilience of our Airbus teams, customers, suppliers and stakeholders across the globe who pulled together to deliver remarkable results. The year saw significant orders from airlines worldwide, signalling confidence in the sustainable growth of air travel post-COVID,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus Chief Executive Officer. “While uncertainties remain, we are on track to lift production through 2022 to meet our customers’ requirements. At the same time we are preparing the future of aviation, transforming our industrial capabilities and implementing the roadmap for decarbonisation.”
In 2021, Airbus delivered 483 A320-family aircraft, 55 A350-family aircraft, 50 A220-family aircraft, 18 A330-family aircraft and five A380s.
Approximately 25% of commercial aircraft in 2021 were delivered using the established “e-delivery” process, allowing customers to receive their aircraft with minimal need for their teams to travel.
In 2021, Airbus doubled its gross order intake compared to 2020 with 771 new sales (507 net) across all programmes and market segments.
The A220 won 64 firm gross new orders and several high profile commitments from some of the world’s leading carriers. The A320neo Family won 661 gross new orders. In the widebody segment, Airbus won 46 gross new orders including 30 A330s and 16 A350s of which 11 were for the newly launched A350F which also won an additional 11 commitments.
In number of aircraft units, Airbus recorded a gross book to bill ratio above one. At the end of 2021, Airbus’ backlog stood at 7,082 aircraft.