Airbus: Airline industry has lost 25 years of growth

The airline industry has lost 25 years of growth due to the impact of the COVID pandemic according to the world's largest supplier of commercial aircraft. Yesterday, Airbus detailed the savaged impact of COVID-19 on the airline industry at its 2021 Virtual Commercial & Programmes Update. Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Head of International at Airbus, told an online media hookup that virtually all contracts with airline customers had to be amended and 80 percent of deliveries altered. The company's deliveries dropped from a high in 2019 of 863 to just 566 last year while orders dropped from 768 to just 268. FLEXIBILITY for booking your next holiday is the promise from Qatar Airways   UNITED AIRLINES said to be considering orders for up to 300 aircraft  Mr Scherer said that a recovery is underway led by domestic with capacity back to almost 80 percent of 2019 levels although international is still looking sick at only 27 percent of the 2019 levels with an overall average of 51 percent. But those numbers, being capacity, only tell part of the story with actual seats being occupied well down. According to the International Air Transport Association, load factors are down between 10 and 30 percent depending upon the region. Mr Scherer said that Airbus forecast a recovery window between January 2023 and January 2025 to get back to 2019 traffic levels. Airbus also detailed a bright environmental future showing a dramatic 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions per passenger since 1990 and an elimination by 2060. The company believes that the remaining 50 percent will be achieved through new engines, aerodynamics, and bio-fuels, and liquid hydrogen.