As Simple Flying reported on Sunday, Airbus has gotten off to a rocky start toward its 2023 delivery goal of 720 aircraft. In the first quarter of this year, it delivered 127 aircraft, which is 9% below the same period last year.
Airbus released its March Orders and Deliveries Report today, which revealed it booked orders for 20 aircraft and delivered 61 in March. The March deliveries went to 37 customers and included five A220-300s, 26 A320neos, 25 A321neos, three A330-900s and two A350-900s.
The production rate is growing monthly
For the first quarter Airbus delivered 10 A220-300s, two A319neos, 45 A320neos, 59 A321neos, one A330-200, five A330-900s and five A350-900s. In January, there were 20 aircraft delivered, and this was followed by 46 in February, so the curve is moving up the scale after the very slow start to the year.
The widebody side of the ledger is of some concern, with just 11 delivered in the first quarter, split almost evenly between the A330 and A350. The A330-200 went to Airbus Defence and Space with its future to be part of the NATO fleet. Two of the A330neos went to Virgin Atlantic via Air Lease Corporation, one to Delta Air Lines and two to Condor, one of those via CIT Leasing. Singapore Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Turkish Airlines each received one A350-900, while Starlux Airlines had one via Air Lease Corporation and the other directly from Airbus.
In Q1, Airbus received net orders for 142 aircraft, including 12 A220-300s, one A319neo, 27 A320neos, 60 A321neos, four A350Fs, five A350-900s and 33 A350-1000s. The Airbus March report shows it received orders for 156 aircraft in Q1, but there were 14 cancelations, which is why the net figure is 142. In the Q1 book are orders from Qatar Airways for 50 A321neos and 23 A350-1000s, representing just over half of the net orders for the quarter.
The widebody order book would look shaky without the 23 A350-1000s for Qatar Airways that have been added back in after the two resolved their rancorous court cases. Lufthansa is the only other widebody customer to place an order this year and has five A350-900s and 10 A350-1000s in the Airbus book. There are also four A350F freighters on order from an undisclosed customer.
Before accounting for cancelations, Airbus received 114 single-aisle aircraft orders in Q1. Of those, 17 are listed as Private or Undisclosed customers, with the identified airlines including Delta Air Lines, Azerbaijan Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Qatar Airways and British Airways.
Can Airbus get more capacity to hit its target?
With a backlog of 7,254 aircraft, Airbus has more than enough to reach its delivery targets, provided it can quickly bring the new production capacity online. There are 6,604 single-aisle A220 and A320 Family aircraft in backlog, along with 209 A330s and 441 A350s. There are 2,293 A320neos and 3,682 A321neos in backlog, along with 529 A220s.
Last week Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury signed a deal to establish a second A320 Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, China. Since the Tianjin line opened in 2008, more than 600 A320 family aircraft have been assembled there, including the first A321neo in March.
Airbus said that the second line in China is part of its strategy to reach a monthly rate of 75 aircraft per month in 2026. There are four A320 final assembly locations; located in Hamburg (Germany), Mobile (USA), Toulouse (France) and Tianjin (China).