The January 2020 numbers are in at Airbus. The European aircraft manufacturer reports a total of 274 commercial aircraft orders from its A220, A320 and A350 XWB product lines. This includes two new customers for the most recent addition to the family: the A220.

New A220 customers

What started off as the shakey and uncertain CSeries program at Bombardier continues to gain traction at Airbus. West African airline Air Senegal placed an order for eight A220-300s while U.S.-based Air Lease Corporation placed an order for 50 A220-300s as part of a larger 102-aircraft order. The full order from Air Lease Corporation also includes 25 A321neos and 27 A321XLRs.

Overall, the A220 has had an exciting January as Air Canada revealed its new addition to the fleet in the middle of the month. Nordic Aviation Capital firmed up its order for 20 A220s (variant unspecified) - this is an order that was first announced last June at the Paris Air Show.

Air Canada A220
The A220 has some of the widest seats in coach across Air Canada's fleet. Photo: Air Canada

More success for the A320 family

During the month of January, U.S. budget carrier Spirit Airlines firmed up its order for 100 A320neo Family aircraft, including 47 A319neo, 33 A320neo and 20 A321neo versions. Cebu Pacific placed a much smaller order for five A320neo aircraft and 10 A321XLRs.

Beyond Air Lease Corporation's A321 orders, two leasing companies acquired additional A320 Family aircraft: China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC) signed a purchase agreement for 40 A321neo versions, while Singapore's BOC Aviation Limited placed a firm order for 20 A320neo aircraft.

Airbus Mobile factory
Airbus could be considering more assembly lines in North America. Photo: Getty Images

An overall successful month

In terms of deliveries, there were 26 A320 Family aircraft delivered. This includes Indonesian full-service airline Batik Air, which received its very first A320neo. Two A220s, two A350s and one A330neo were delivered as well.

Airbus’ backlog of undelivered aircraft stood at 7,725 at the end of January. This includes an astounding 6,249 A320 Family aircraft, 551 A220s, 330 A330s (quite a perfect number), 586 A350s and nine A380s. In fact, almost all of the A380s are going to Emirates with Japanese carrier ANA waiting for the last of its order of three.

Airbus, 2019, Deliveries
The planemaker had already output by a third. Photo: Getty Images

Conclusion

We have to assume that the A320 Family success the recent months is in-part due to Boeing's 737 MAX fiasco. Apparently only 30 737 MAX aircraft were sold in 2019. While the Boeing number is quite telling, there might be a small glimmer of hope as Ryanair is in discussions with Boeing for a substantial order.

This should be the final full year of A380 production as the program comes to a close. We're not sure when it will fully wrap up. It could be late this year or sometime early next year. However, we know that this will give way to increased A321 production as the A380 assembly facilities will be repurposed to build the smaller jets.

Do you think Boeing is due for a comeback? Or will Airbus continue to dominate the first quarter of 2020? Let us know in the comments.