France —
European planemaker Airbus said on Thursday it received a net 2,094 plane orders last year, a record for the group.
This comes as airlines prepare for further growth in global passengers, and opt for more fuel-efficient aircraft.
The company also said that despite continuing to face supply chain problems, it delivered 735 jets to customers last year, surpassing its own target of 720 deliveries.
This new order broke Airbus’ previous record in 2013, of 1,503 aircraft. The company continues to reap the success of its popular A320 family, for short-haul flights and the A350 for long-haul routes.
“We initially anticipated a recovery in the aviation sector in the 2023-2025 period, but in 2023 we find, along with the single-aisle aircraft market, wide-body aircraft returning to popularity much faster than expected, and with great enthusiasm,” said AirBus chief commercial officer Christian Scherer in a statement addressed the post-Covid-19 pandemic situation.
Large contracts were obtained from various airlines. IndiGo, India’s low-cost carrier, orders 500 A320s, the largest civil aviation order in history. Meanwhile, Air India ordered 250 planes, and Turkish Airlines, 230 planes.
“We have never sold that many A320 or A350 aircraft in previous years. Travel trends are back and there is serious momentum,” he said.
The company’s overall orders reached 8,598 aircraft at the end of last year.
Airbus has begun development of a successor to its popular A320 family in the second half of the 2030s, and plans to launch a hydrogen-powered aircraft, which emits no CO2, by 2035.
The performance outpaced US rival Boeing, which is again facing scrutiny over its new 737 MAX jet, after fears emerged over an incident on an Alaska Airlines plane last week, in which a fuselage panel came loose mid-flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
Boeing also saw an increase in net orders last year, to 1,314 planes, mainly for the 737 MAX and also for the long-haul 787 aircraft. (ns/ka)