United Airlines’ agreement for 70 Airbus A321neos finally lifted the airframer into positive net orders for the first half of the year.
Airbus’s net orders had languished in negative territory over the course of 2021 until the United order was recorded on 28 June.
The deal meant Airbus’s gross orders for the half-year of 165 aircraft exceeded the 127 cancellations.
Only two cancellations were listed in June, both of them A220-300s removed from the backlog of Macquarie Financial Holdings – leaving the customer with 29 of the type still on order.
Airbus also obtained orders for a single long-haul aircraft in June, an A330-300 for a private client, as well as an A321neo and single A220-300 for an undisclosed customer.
It took deliveries for the first six months to 297 aircraft – compared with 196 at the same midway point last year – after it handed over 77 aircraft in June.
