Airbus drew 2,319 orders for new commercial aircraft during 2023, more than twice as many as it booked during 2022 and 14% more than the during its previous peak year of 2014. With demand for new aircraft rising due to high passenger volumes and fleet-modernization programs, following the market’s near collapse in orders due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, Airbus now has an order backlog totaling 8,598 aircraft across all four of its jet series.
“2023 was a landmark year for Airbus’ Commercial Aircraft business with exceptional sales and deliveries on the upper end of our target,” stated Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. "A number of factors came together to help us achieve our goals, including the increased flexibility and capability of our global industrial system, as well as the strong demand from airlines to refresh their fleets with our most modern and fuel-efficient aircraft."
More important to the OEM’s current finances were the 735 aircraft it delivered to 87 customers during the past year, +11.0% or 74 jets more than it delivered in 2022.
“We originally anticipated aviation to recover sometime in the 2023-2025 timeframe, but what we saw in 2023 was, alongside the single-aisle market, widebody return much sooner than expected, and with vigor,“ commented CEO Christian Scherer.”
Earlier this week, rival Boeing reported its Q4 deliveries totaled 157 jets, bringing its total 2023 deliveries to 428 commercial aircraft of all types.
