Airbus jetliner deliveries recover some ground in May

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus deliveries partially recovered ground in May compared with the previous month, but remained well below normal levels after falling dramatically due to the coronavirus crisis, company data showed on Friday.

The European planemaker delivered 24 aircraft in May, up from 14 in April, but down 70% from 81 aircraft in May 2019.

Planemakers continue to be hit by depressed demand from cash-starved airlines, logistical problems in bringing in airline inspection teams and gaps in the supply chain caused by social-distancing measures to tackle the virus.

France, where Airbus is headquartered, eased coronavirus restrictions on June 2.

Last month’s deliveries included six narrow-body aircraft to Indian budget airline IndiGo and one wide-body A350-1000 each to British Airways and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways.

The figures bring total deliveries so far this year to 160 planes, down 49% from 313 in the same period of 2019.

Highlighting the impact of the crisis, Airbus sold no new aircraft in May.

So far this year it has sold 365 jets and received cancellations for 66, an improvement on the first five months of 2019 after a strong start to 2020 in the weeks before the spread of the new coronavirus sent the global economy into recession.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)