Airbus plane deliveries slide in August, but sales pick up

Airbus SE jetliner deliveries declined last month, according to people familiar with the matter, as an annual summer manufacturing lull impacted build rates.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus handed over about 40 aircraft in August, down from 47 in July, according to the people, who asked not to be named before official figures are made public. The tally would take the eight-month total to around 380 planes, compared with a full-year target of 600.

August figures will be revealed Tuesday. A company spokesman declined to comment ahead of their publication.

Airbus had its strongest sales performance of the year last month, racking up more than 100 orders, the people said, buoyed by deals with carriers including Jet2 Plc and Delta Air Lines Inc. U.S. rival Boeing Co. has previously been dominant in new deals as a return to flying of its 737 Max jets following two fatal crashes unleashes pent-up demand.

Through July, Boeing accrued 257 orders net of cancellations and conversions, while Airbus was sitting on 33. The European planemaker pulled off a coup with the $4.9 billion narrow-body contract with Jet2, traditionally a Boeing client.

Airbus has already upped its delivery target once this year as a strategy of pressing customers to maintain backlogs at the height of the coronavirus crisis pays off.