Rival airframe manufacturers Airbus SE and Boeing Commercial Airplanes issued their new aircraft orders and deliveries summaries for 2022, with Airbus once again taking the lead in the annual contest for top market preference. It’s the fourth straight year that Airbus came out ahead: in 2019, Boeing was beset by the shutdown of it 737 MAX program; and both OEMs endured diminished results in 2020 and 2021, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While both manufacturers missed their forecast targets for orders and deliveries, 2022 was the first time since 2017 that the two combined to record more than 2,000 new orders, excluding cancellations.
Airbus delivered 661 new aircraft in 2022, up 8% from 2021, the vast majority (516) of which were from its single-aisle A320 series. Also, it booked 1,078 new orders, finishing 2022 with an order backlog of 7,239 aircraft of all variants.
“In 2022 we served 84 customers with 661 deliveries, an increase of 8 percent compared to 2021. That’s obviously less than we were targeting but given the complexity of the operating environment I want to thank the teams and our partners for the hard work and the ultimate result,” stated CEO Guillaume Faury. “The significant order intake covering all our aircraft families including freighters, reflects the strength and competitiveness of our product line. We continue our ramp-up trajectory to deliver on our backlog.”
Boeing delivered 524 new aircraft in 2022, most (374) of which were of the 737 series, and 137 of which were of different wide-body and freighter configurations.
The U.S. manufacturer also reported 774 new orders for 2022, after cancellations and conversions, including 561 orders for 737 jets and 213 orders for twin-aisle (777 and 787 series) airplanes.
"We worked hard in 2022 to stabilize 737 production, resume 787 deliveries, launch the 777-8 Freighter and, most importantly, meet our customer commitments," stated Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Stan Deal. "As the airline industry expands its recovery, we are seeing strong demand across our product family, particularly the highly efficient 737 MAX and the 787 Dreamliner.”
Deal continued: “We will stay focused on driving stability within our operations and the supply chain as we work to deliver for our customers in 2023 and beyond."
