40 Airbus deliveries expected in August 2021 We estimate that Airbus delivered 40 aircraft in August (+1 unit y-y): six A220, 33 A320, one A350, and no A330 or A380. The decrease from 47 units in July reflects usual normal seasonality, with August traditionally a soft month for deliveries. A320 mix remains supportive, with 50% of A321 deliveries this month. The importance of the A321 in Airbus''s success should be further highlighted by the group order intake, reflecting A321 orders from Delta (30 units) and Jet2 (36 units). Strong OE momentum for Safran, helped by the MAX Boeing deliveries are likely to remain subdued at 22 units in August, supported by the inventory release on the 737 MAX (17 deliveries of 737 MAX expected) but still with no resumption of 787 deliveries. However, combined with strong market share this month on the A320neo, the 737MAX should support strong momentum in deliveries of CFM engines ''under wing'', with total shipments at Safran expected up 74% y-y, in contrast to weaker momentum at MTU and Rolls this quarter. Airbus still well on track to beat FY delivery guidance Our August estimates imply the delivery of 216 Airbus aircraft over Sep-Dec to meet the FY guidance of 600 units, i.e., an average of 54/month vs 71/month reached over Sep-Dec 2020. To this must be added the prospects for faster A380 inventory release, as Emirates announced the accelerated delivery of its final three A380s from 2022 to October-November 2021 (a nice positive for FCF). We therefore feel very comfortable with our assumption of 626 Airbus deliveries in 2021. Traffic momentum halted by the Delta variant Despite the global roll-out of vaccination campaigns, the spread of the Delta variant has impacted global passenger traffic momentum in August and hurt the hopes of a strong Summer season. The recovery in commercial flights number has stalled, with a slight pull-back from a peak at 76% of pre-crisis levels in July to 71% in the back end of...