Airbus Gets Closer to 800-Jet Delivery Goal

(Bloomberg) -- Airbus SE’s efforts to speed up jet deliveries are bearing fruit, with a bumper November tally of 89 planes handed to customers, making it more likely that the company will achieve its full-year goal.

• The number was 15 higher than in November 2017, according to data published Friday, suggesting that the European planemaker is finally getting a grip on glitches that slowed output earlier in the year.

Key Insights

• Airbus is seeking to make 800 deliveries in 2018 after shrinking the target from 820 at its third-quarter earnings update. The figure includes the A220 plane recently acquired from Bombardier Inc.. It’s still ambitious, requiring 127 handovers this month -- the same as it managed in December last year.
• Emirates has officially taken two A380s that it initially refused. The deliveries confirm a Bloomberg report that the Dubai carrier had agreed to take the superjumbos despite a dispute with Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc over the performance of the engines.
• Airbus delivered only one A330 wide-body to Beijing Capital Airlines, a part-owned subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, which has been struggling to fund deliveries of outstanding aircraft amid a cash crunch.
• November sales were slow, with the planemaker booking orders for just 43 new aircraft. That brought the 11-month total to 380, though confirmation of a deal with Irish leasing firm Avolon will add 100 more planes this month. It’s not uncommon for Airbus to rack up blockbuster transactions in the final days of the year.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.