Airbus speeds jet deliveries in March for best month this year

Airbus handed over 72 aircraft last month, stepping up deliveries even as coronavirus flare-ups delayed a recovery in air travel. The surge in handovers reported Thursday confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report and marked the best performance so far this year for the European planemaker. Its quarterly total of 125 surpassed the 122 aircraft delivered in the year-ago period, largely before the pandemic took hold. The uptick will ease concerns about Airbus’s inventory of undelivered aircraft, which stood at about 100 in mid-February. Matching deliveries with build rates is vital for the manufacturer as it seeks to ramp up output of its flagship A320 family of aircraft during the third quarter. The European planemaker had 8 cancellations in March, according to figures released Thursday. It saw 28 orders, taking the net order total this year to minus 61 aircraft after Norwegian Air Shuttle canceled a slew of jets in February. While increasing handovers is good news for the manufacturer, the outlook for travel in Europe and Asia remains gloomy, putting pressure on the finances of key Airbus customers. <br/>