The pandemic is leaving deep scars on Airbus: In the past financial year, the European aircraft manufacturer posted a loss of billions. The bottom line is the minus in Corona year 2020 a total of 1,13 billion euros.

“Last year was a challenge for Airbus. It is far from the original expectations for 2020, ”said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. And he's not entirely wrong about that. Because the CoV crisis has massively affected the group with its control center in Toulouse and caused a violent business collapse. The aircraft production had to be stopped for a short time, and thousands of employees worldwide lost their jobs. Unsurprisingly, sales for the year as a whole fell by 29 percent to 49,9 billion euros.

For the new year, the Boeing competitor expects slightly better figures. But that was it again. According to management estimates, the company is unlikely to deliver more aircraft in 2021 than in the crisis year 2020. The manufacturer had handed over 566 aircraft to its customers, compared to 2019 in the record year 863. Earnings before interest, taxes and special items (adjusted EBIT) should be increase to at least 2 billion euros in the current year. A forecast that many analysts cannot understand. For them, Airbus is far too pessimistic about the future and, incomprehensibly, does not expect the current positive trend to continue.

Still, there is good news. Last year, Airbus received more aircraft orders than cancellations and thus defended its position as the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world. All in all, however, the crisis is leaving a deep crater in the business figures. The hole is even deeper with the biggest competitor. The US aircraft manufacturer Boeing posted a loss of around 11,9 billion US dollars last year. The group has never had such a high deficit in its long history.