Airbus Delivers 766 Aircraft In 2024

Airbus has published its delivery figures from 2024, highlighting a strong calendar year that saw the company fall just short of its expectations.

Following reports that 760 deliveries had been made, Airbus exceeded that number, stating that 766 commercial aircraft were shipped to 86 customers worldwide throughout the year.

The figure is just four units short of the revised target Airbus had put forward to achieve for the year of 770 units. This revised figure dropped 30 from the previously announced goal of 800.

Initially, AIrbus believed that supply chains would stabilise throughout 2024 and thus set itself an ambitious goal of 800 units to be achieved in the year. However, this was quickly realised not to be possible.

By the early stages of 2024, Airbus recognised that the operating environment had not improved, and thus, a reduction in its expectations was to be required, where the figure of 770 stems from.

However, despite a massive push in the last month of the year, which saw over 100 deliveries, Airbus could still not reach its goal of 770 units.

Analysts argued that even the 770 several months ago was wildly out of reach considering Airbus’ performance across 2024. However, a successful last two months of the year helped Airbus reach its goal.

Airbus’ CEO says 2024 saw sustained demand for new aircraft, with key customer orders taking shape. This was also a successful year for growing the commercial aircraft backlog destined for airlines.

As delivery slots get snapped up, Airbus says it’s seeing record demand for its widebody aircraft, specifically as airlines look to complement their single-aisle fleet and get in sooner rather than later to secure larger planes while delivery slots are available.

Moreover, the year was necessary for the launch of the A321XLR after several delays. This new single-aisle aircraft will change operations across these aircraft types, with Iberia being one of the first to deploy the jets on longer-ranged services.

Airbus In 2024 vs 2023

766 units were delivered, representing a jump from 2023’s performance, where just 735 planes were delivered. However, there were considerable differences in program deliveries across both years.

One of the most notable differences from 2023 to 2024 was that the A350 experienced fewer deliveries in the year just gone, with 57 units shipped off compared to 64 in 2023.

Much of the A350 number drop stems from continued complications in getting aircraft off to customers on time. For example, Emirates was scheduled to see its first A350 delivered in August. However, this didn’t happen until the last two months of the year, and thus, all remaining units were also delayed.

The A320 family saw increases from 571 to 602. The A330 series stayed the same, with 32 deliveries in 2024, identical to the figure in 2023. The A220 also rose, jumping from 68 deliveries to 75 in the past year.