Big News For Airbus

Airbus has published several big updates surrounding production, supply chains, and its aircraft programs as 2025 comes to a close.

The polanemaker says that it has seen considerable improvement across its operating environment in recent months, allowing for a late push in deliveries to take place.

As a result, despite much pushback from industry analysts who have long criticised Airbus’ previously announced yearly delivery target for its commercial aeroplanes division, the manufacturer is moving ahead with this goal.

The planemaker’s Executive Vice President for Operators stated that they believed they would be able to increase deliveries by 7% and reaffirmed their target of delivering 820 jets this year.

If Airbus can hit this target, which would require three consecutive months to finish the year with over 100 deliveries each month, it would represent the first time the planemaker has hit its target in many years.

Over recent years, the figure Airbus had put forward as a yearly delivery target has not been met, following revisions that have also subsequently not been met.

The planemaker has struggled with output levels, driven by supply chain constraints from all angles, including an inability to acquire engines on time or seating, which all impact output rates and thus the ability to deliver these new planes to customers.

A New Airbus Final Assembly Line

Part of fresh updates for the planemaker also involves the inauguration of the second A320 Final Assembly Line (FAL) at the Mobile manufacturing facility, part of an enhancement to the single-aisle program.

With the opening of Airbus, the company now adds 350,000 square feet of office and key logistics space to benefit its employee base, and has greater backing to move ahead with its outlined goals.

Those goals include, most notably, the considerable ramp-up of production at an accelerated rate to meet the requirements of customers and the evolving backlog of the program, which surpassed the 737’s only in recent weeks.

Airbus knows that if it wants to stand any chance of meeting a monthly production rate of 75 aircraft in the A320 family by 2027, it needs to have a global network that’s not only diversified to meet demand but also has efficient operations that can withstand pressure and show resilience.

The CEO of Airbus Commercial Aircraft said that the newly built FAL is also in proximity to key American partners, allowing for relationships to deepen, and Airbus believes this is important.

Over time, Airbus, despite having its European origins, has expanded its footprint in the United States, producing aircraft in the Southern Alabama city and with the opening of a FAL for the A220 in 2020, has seen the delivery of 600 aircraft to customers across several programs.

The third final assembly line spans more than a million square feet, accompanied by double-bay hangars that will support the consistent production of the A320, as well as quad-bay hangars to support the A220.

Increasing production across these two programs is crucial. It will be closely tied to improved financial rewards, customer satisfaction levels, and, for the A220, the possibility of moving ahead with the long-rumoured A220-500 high-capacity stretch, which will further bridge the gap for operators hesitant to make the transition to the A320neo.

While a production increase has long been planned, lengthy discussions between the planemaker and its suppliers have been touted as challenging, with the prospect of an increase not previously being possible due to the complex operating environment.

However, things finally appear to be on the up, with Airbus and even competitor Boeing publicly emerging and voicing their praise for the rebuilding of critical areas, which allow for more stability moving into 2026 and, more importantly, the chance to move ahead with key and long-awaited production increases.