Airbus Confirms 75 Orders

Airbus welcomed 75 gross orders in November 2025; however, the month was highlighted by slower-than-expected deliveries.

During the month, notable orders included Silk Way West Airlines’ commitment to the Airbus A350 Freighter, followed by Etihad Airways’ commitment to the A330neo, Air China Cargo’s A350F deal, Indigo’s A350 order, and undisclosed customers’ plane purchases.

Just 72 aircraft were delivered to 42 customers, bringing the total to 657 across 87 customers globally as of 30 November 2025.

Airbus’ delivery figure of 72 aircraft not only represents a drop from the 84 units delivered in the same month one year prior, but is also fewer than the 78 jets shipped in October.

The planemaker attributed the poorer perfromance to the continued obstacles that it identified within its A320 family. This is a fresh quality issue with the metal fuselage panels on some planes, which has made delivering new planes a challenge.

The A320 family is the planemaker’s most popular by a clear stretch and accounts for the vast majority of deliveries every month; therefore, if this family encounters any signs of struggle, that’ll undoubtedly be reflected in monthly figures, such as November.

Airbus would, at the very least, remain confident that its aircraft backlog is healthy and that there remains strong demand for future purchases of its planes, but meeting this demand is becoming increasingly challenging.

With specific aircraft programs sold out through to the next decade, short-term delivery slots are becoming scarcer. If Airbus wants to adequately meet the demand it’s seeing for its new aircraft, it needs to proceed with output rate increases that have long been planned.

Even with obstacles remaining, Airbus has once again delivered more planes than Boeing across 2025, albeit a feat not entirely challenging to meet if the European business had been an ounce more stable, driven by the continued rebuild of its competitor after years of systemic issues.

However, the gap between the two businesses has narrowed this year, and Boeing has undoubtedly driven the year’s order book, welcoming new commercial orders after healthy sales pushes and the signing of fresh trade agreements.

Airbus Adjusts 2025 Targets

Unfortunately, with just 657 deliveries across 2025 to date and one month remaining, Airbus knew its proposed target of 820 commercial aeroplane deliveries was extremely unlikely to be met.

The year has been challenging, while earmarked as one to see valuable progress on stabilisation, persistent niggles have impacted output rates, meaning, for now, another year running annual delivery targets has shifted, albeit later than usual.

The previously laid out 820 figure was only this week adjusted to 790, still an uphill battle with the planemaker requiring 133 deliveries in the final 31 days of the year, a near-record figure that has to be reached to meet the revised total, putting still pressure on the business.

If Airbus had held firm and continued to push for 820 deliveries across the year, it would’ve needed to deliver some 160 aircraft during the month, which is simply unattainable given all that has impacted the business throughout the year, especially in recent months.

While it’s respectable that Airbus continues to aim for year-over-year improvements, analysts have long argued that the business had little to no chance of hitting its 2025 delivery target from the beginning, when the future was formally announced.

However, in the previous year, the minute the pressure would hit Airbus, it would revise the annual figure, and almost always, at least late, even miss this revised total. In contrast, this year it held firm, even through all the adversity, continuing to push to 820 until it was simply not possible.

These last few years have been tough. While there has been some supply chain stabilisation, the manufacturer continues to face more challenges each month, which have plagued output rates, casting further doubt on proposed production rate increases due to the persistent niggles.

Whether it has been the ongoing engine supply chain crisis limiting the amount of engines being delivered to Airbus and thus resulting in gliders sitting around factories, essentially completed aircraft just awaiting engines, or the delayed arrival of seats, the production processes are reliant on the smooth operation of its suppliers; this has been the primary problem.