Airbus boosts A320 order, fails to relight A380 hope

China has signed a contract with Airbus to provide 184 Airbus A320s for 13 Chinese airlines, which will be delivered starting from 2019.

While some may assume 184 planes is a major boost, Airbus is still lacking behind Boeing. Theur rival sold 300 jets during a visit by US President Donald Trump last year, which valued twice than this deal. 

Airbus Plant Expansion

In addition to the jet deal, Airbus will be raising A320 production at its factory in Tianjin, China, from four to six per month as part of the agreement.  

 Since its inauguration in 2008 the line has assembled a total of 354 A320-family jets. Deliveries to Chinese customers and to operators throughout the Asia-Pacific region included the first A320neo in the second half of last year.

A Step Towards A380 Retirement However, France failed to secure a widely expected deal for the A380. It had planned to form an A380 industrial partnership with China if Chinese carriers placed orders for the world’s largest passenger jet, which failed eventually.

The operating performance of the five A380s purchased by China Southern Airlines is poor, which means to build a production line is not meaningful. During November’s Dubai Airshow, a highly anticipated order from Emirates Airline for 36 A380s never materialized despite positive signals sent by the airline and the manufacturer just before the show. 

During the airshow we are all expecting for a last minute joint order announcement from Boeing and Airbus. But after an extended delay, the Airbus officials left and Emirates chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum entered and took a seat behind a model of a 787-10, forty of which the airline would ultimately commit to order. 

Now with Airbus failing to secure orders from both Middle East and Chiese carriers - Airbus' main targets, it possibility of addition orders for A380s is tiny.