The German-French aircraft manufacturer Airbus has received more orders than ever before. In 2023, the group received orders for 2,094 aircraft – an industry record that exceeded the previous peak of 1,503 orders from 2013. The popularity of the A320 family of short-haul aircraft and the long-haul A350 aircraft contributed to the success.
Despite ongoing supply chain issues last year, the company said it delivered 735 aircraft to customers. Airbus thus exceeded its target of 720 aircraft delivered and was significantly higher than the 661 aircraft in 2022. The order backlog also reached a record level of almost 8,600 aircraft.
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After the pandemic, it was expected that aviation would recover sometime between 2023 and 2025, said Christian Scherer, the new managing director of the commercial aircraft division in Toulouse. “But what we saw in 2023 was that, in addition to the single-aisle aircraft market (Narrow-body aircraft with only one center aisle, editor’s note) The market for wide-body aircraft has also returned much earlier and stronger than expected.” The aircraft market has finally recovered from the Corona crisis.
Ten new A350s every month in the future
The Franco-German group received its largest order from the Indian low-cost airline IndiGo, which placed the largest single order in the history of civil aviation in June for 500 A320s. Air India ordered 250 aircraft, including 40 A350s, Turkish Airlines ordered 230 aircraft, including 60 A350s. “We have never sold so many A320s or A350s in one year. (…) There is strong momentum,” said Scherer. In order to meet the high demand, according to Scherer, Airbus wants to increase the number of A320s produced monthly from 48 in 2023 to 75 and the number of A350s produced monthly from five to ten in 2026.
While Airbus is receiving record orders, US competitor Boeing is stumbling: The company also recorded a surge in orders with 1,456 orders, which can be attributed to the success of the 737 MAX (987 orders) and the long-haul aircraft 787 (313 orders). However, Boeing continues to struggle with production and quality control issues and delivered only 528 aircraft in 2023. Last week, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX had to make an emergency landing because a piece of fuselage came loose from the plane. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opened an investigation.
The German-French aircraft manufacturer Airbus has received more orders than ever before. In 2023, the group received orders for 2,094 aircraft – an industry record that exceeded the previous peak of 1,503 orders from 2013. The popularity of the A320 family of short-haul aircraft and the long-haul A350 aircraft contributed to the success.
Despite ongoing supply chain issues last year, the company said it delivered 735 aircraft to customers. Airbus thus exceeded its target of 720 aircraft delivered and was significantly higher than the 661 aircraft in 2022. The order backlog also reached a record level of almost 8,600 aircraft.