European aircraft manufacturer Airbus lost € 1.1 billion last year amid an unprecedented global downturn in air travel due to the pandemic but expects to ship hundreds of aircraft and profit in 2021, despite uncertainty over the timing of the resumption of mass flights.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury admitted that the company's results last year were far from expectations and had to constantly adapt as airlines were canceling flights due to travel restrictions. In June, Airbus announced 15,000 job cuts, mainly in France and Germany.

Airbus does not expect the industry to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023-2025.

Airbus sales fell to 49.9 billion euros from 70 billion euros a year earlier.