Airbus nears 550 deliveries in year derailed by Covid-19

Airbus has handed over close to 550 aircraft in 2020, with three days left to pad its total in a year derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The European planemaker is nearing the milestone after tallying 477 deliveries through November, sources said. The figures are unaudited and will be finalized after the end of the year. Airbus remains comfortably ahead of Boeing, though neither is anywhere near where it expected to be when the year started. The Toulouse, France-based planemaker delivered a record 863 planes last year, before the health crisis crushed the balance sheets of airline and leasing-firm customers. Manufacturers have been scrambling since then to preserve orders and shuffle delivery schedules. In a sustained push to increase handovers in recent months, Airbus has used incentives such as an e-delivery option that allows customers to delegate some essential checks to the manufacturer that are made harder by travel restrictions. The planemaker, based in Toulouse, France, abandoned its annual forecast for 880 deliveries back in March, as the coronavirus began to wreak havoc on the plans of airlines.<br/>