Commercial aircraft orders took a nosedive last month as the aerospace industry felt the squeeze from Donald Trump's tariffs.
In April, there were only 19 aircraft orders, marking a 75 per cent year-on-year drop and the lowest for the month since the pandemic began, as reported by .
The latest figures from ADS, the º£½ÇÊÓƵ trade association, are the first to be reported since the introduction of tariffs on US imports of aircraft.
However, deliveries saw a 20 per cent increase over the month to 102, with the aircraft backlog reaching 15,871, equating to roughly £248bn in value to the economy.
"The uncertainty caused by tariffs likely continues to delay order decisions, while aircraft manufacturers have begun to re-allocate aircraft to avoid immediate repercussions of new custom duties," said Aimie Stone, chief economist at ADS.
Trump's liberation day announcement threw a spanner in the works for a sector that has operated free from trade barriers for nearly the last 40 years.
ADS has held off on providing forward-looking forecasts for the year until at least June due to the prevailing uncertainty.
'Further clarity' needed on aerospace tariffs
As part of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ-US trade agreement, it was disclosed that some engine and plane parts would be exempt from tariffs. However, the exact details were not made explicitly clear following the announcement.
Stone called for "further clarity" from the º£½ÇÊÓƵ government on the exclusion of engines and aerospace components in the levies.
"Doing so would support º£½ÇÊÓƵ competitiveness in the global aerospace market and restore some momentum seen in the first quarter."
ADS, in a statement, said: "While the recent º£½ÇÊÓƵ-US bilateral trade deal is expected to lead to an exemption for US-inbound aerospace parts, the movement of goods will still be slowed down by customs activity, and rising costs from increased paperwork and material costs due to the international nature of aerospace supply chains will continue to hamper growth."
An ongoing dispute between airlines and aircraft manufacturers over who should bear the costs of any additional tariffs continues.
Airbus has informed its US-based customers that it will not cover the fee, however airlines have been equally as hard line in their response.
