Airbus today released its order and delivery figures for the month of May. The number of deliveries was up from April for a total of 50, with the majority represented by A320 and A321neos. Meanwhile, the planemaker giant only received seven new orders. The majority of those, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, were instead represented by the A350.
Total of 220 deliveries for 2021
From May 1st to 31st, Airbus delivered 50 planes 32 to customers worldwide, a slight increase from 45 in April. This takes the planemaker's total deliveries for the year to 220, quite the auspicious number given the success of Airbus' A220. Four of the manufacturer's much-lauded smaller jet found new homes in the month that passed, taking the total delivered in 2021 this far to 13.
Of the A220-300s, one went to SWISS on May 20th. JetBlue took its third A220 on May 21, having received its second less than a month prior on April 27th. Its first out of an order for 60 of the planes arrived at New York's JFK on New Year's Eve but did not operate its first passenger revenue service until late April. Rounding out May's A220 deliveries was Air Canada, with two planes making the short one-hour journey from Airbus' Mirabel factory in Montreal to Toronto.
A320neos
The majority of Airbus' deliveries in May were A320neos. CMB Financial Leasing took two on behalf of Saudi low-cost carrier Flynas, delivered on May the 5th and 10th, respectively, while the airline took a wholly-owned jet on the last day of the month. China Eastern Airlines took five - two on May 7th, then one on May 11th, 17th, and 24th. Sky Express received one on May 10th, followed by one for Avolon on behalf of Spirit Airlines a couple of days later.
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From May 17th to 19th, IndiGo, Juneyao, Shenzen, and Frontier Airlines all took one A320neo each, followed by one for Qingdao Airlines on the 20th. A day later, one went to Colorful Guizhou Airlines via Aviation Capital Group. The same lessor owns the one delivered to Viva Air Colombia on the 25th. One went to Vistara on May 26th, followed by one each to Air China and Chile's Sky Airline before the end of the month.
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A321s
Airbus delivered three A321ceo jets. They all went to Delta Air Lines on May 4th, 6th, and 27th. However, 18 A321neos also made their way to their owners. Lufthansa took the first two of the month on May 3rd and 5th. Wizz Air Hungary took its first of the month on May 10th and its second on May 19th, while its UK subsidiary received one on May 20th. BOC Aviation took two for Scoot on the 14th and 20th, respectively.
On May 14th, leasing giant GECAS took one for private Pakistani carrier Airblue. VietJet Air took one on the same day, while another A321neo was delivered to Cebu Pacific one day later. American Airlines took one on May 20th. From May 25th onwards, Airbus delivered one A321neo each to JetBlue, Air Busan via AerCap, Aeroflot via SMBC, Turkish Airlines, China Southern, and Air Macau, also via AerCap. Rounding out the narrowbody month was Asiana Airlines.
Five widebody deliveries
Widebody deliveries, naturally sparse on any given month but particularly so given recovery projections and subsequent deferrals, were few and far between. Delta Air Lines took one A330-900 on May 27th. Turkish Airlines took one A350-900 on May 5th and Aeroflot two of the same model on May 27th. One A380 went, unsurprisingly as it is the only remaining customer, to Emirates on May 12th.
However, the largest order for the month of May was for dual-aisle jets. Lufthansa placed an order with Airbus for five A350-900s. Meanwhile, Mexican ultra-low-cost airline Volaris signed up for two A320neos. While total delivery numbers were up for the month, May's orders were a mere fraction of April's 48, significantly bolstered by Delta's 25 A321neo jets.