The French aircraft manufacturer has sites at Filton and Broughton that design, test and manufacture the wings for all Airbus’ commercial aircraft directly sustaining about 9,000 UK jobs, saw revenues decrease to €49.9bn (2019: €70.5bn), driven by the difficult market environment impacting the commercial aircraft business due to the Covid-19 pandemic with 34% fewer deliveries year-on-year.
A total of 566 commercial aircraft were delivered (2019: 863 aircraft), comprising 38 A220s, 446 A320 Family, 19 A330s, 59 A350s and 4 A380s. During the fourth quarter of 2020, a total of 225 commercial aircraft were delivered including 89 in December.
In 2020, Airbus Helicopters delivered 300 units (2019: 332 units) with revenues increasing by around 4%, benefiting from a favourable product mix and growth in services. Revenues at Airbus Defence and Space decreased by around 4%, mainly reflecting lower volume as well as the impact of COVID-19 on business phasing, mainly in Space Systems.
Net commercial aircraft orders totalled 268 (2019: 768 aircraft) with the order backlog comprising 7,184 commercial aircraft as of 31 December 2020. Airbus Helicopters booked 268 net orders (2019: 310 units).
Consolidated order intake by value decreased to €33.3bn (2019: €81.2bn) with the consolidated order book valued at €373bn on 31 December 2020 (year-end 2019: €471bn).
“The 2020 results demonstrate the resilience of Airbus in the most challenging crisis to hit the aerospace industry. I want to thank our teams for their great achievements in 2020 and acknowledge the strong support of our Helicopters and Defence and Space businesses. I would also like to thank our customers, suppliers and partners for their loyalty to Airbus,” said Airbus chief executive officer Guillaume Faury.
“Many uncertainties remain for our industry in 2021 as the pandemic continues to impact lives, economies and societies. We have issued guidance to provide some visibility in a volatile environment. Over the longer term, our ambition is to lead the development of a sustainable global aerospace industry.”
