Airbus keeps top spot despite 34% drop in 2020 jet deliveries

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus delivered 566 aircraft in 2020, maintaining its crown as the world's largest planemaker for a second year as U.S. rival Boeing remained mired for most of that period in the grounding of its 737 MAX, company data showed on Friday.

Deliveries from the European planemaker fell 34% from a record 863 in 2019 as the coronavirus crisis hit air travel demand.

The announcement confirms a Reuters report on Tuesday that Airbus had delivered more than 560 aircraft in 2020, beating an internal target..

Airbus sold a net total of 268 aircraft after adjusting for cancellations, down from 768 in 2019.

Boeing delivered 118 jets between January and November and had a negative total of 454 net orders before accounting adjustments, giving Airbus an unassailable lead for the year. MAX deliveries resumed in December.

Cancellations for Airbus jets included 10 A350 wide-body jets on order from troubled Malaysian carrier AirAsia X.

In total Airbus lost orders for 26 wide-body jets, reflecting a continued severe slowdown in intercontinental travel - expected to be the slowest travel industry segment to recover from the pandemic.

Airbus is planning a summit meeting with major suppliers in the coming days, amid mounting speculation that it may have to delay planned jet output increases as Europe faces a resurgent coronavirus crisis, industry sources said.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Pawel Goraj, editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans)