Airbus made a slight slip in the pace of deliveries of its commercial jets in November, making the task of delivering 720 aircraft in 2023 a little tougher.
Last month, the European planemaker sent its customers 64 planes, or four fewer than in November 2022. The gap to be filled, therefore, is 97 aircraft to be delivered in December.
Despite this, it is a quantity of deliveries similar to what Airbus has achieved in the last month of the year. In 2022, for example, 98 jets were delivered.
Airbus’ workhorse has been the A321neo, which continues to account for the majority of deliveries. In November, there were 29 aircraft, bringing the total for the year to 279 jets or 59 more than in the same period in 2022.
The A220-300 has also been contributing steadily to the planemaker’s target, with 55 aircraft delivered, 41% up on last year so far.
113 firm orders
Among widebodies, the A330-900 is six planes ahead of 2022 while the A350-900 is three jets behind.
In absolute numbers, the A320neo, for many years its flagship product, is responsible for the most disappointing numbers. The aircraft had 205 units delivered, nine fewer than in the first 11 months of last year.
Still, Airbus increased deliveries of narrowbodies by 62 jets while widebodies are four units behind in 2022.
The backlog in November saw the addition of 113 aircraft, including 30 A220-300 (airBaltic), 64 A320neo (60 from SMBC, 2 from BA and 2 from Aer Lingus), 2 A321neo (BA), 1 A330-900 ( ALC) and 16 A350-900s (1 for Air Mauritius and 15 for Emirates Airline).
Follow ADN: Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Total gross orders for 2023 reached 1,512 aircraft, but with 117 cancellations, the net total was 1,395 aircraft.
