Airbus saw an increase of 11% after delivering 800 commercial aircraft to nearly one hundred customers in 2018, meeting its full year delivery guidance and setting a new company record.
Deliveries were 11 percent higher than the previous record of 718 units, set in 2017. For the 16th year in a row now, Airbus has increased the number of commercial aircraft deliveries on an annual basis.
Airbus sales achieved 747 net orders during 2018 compared with 1,109 orders the year before. At the end of 2018, the backlog of Airbus commercial aircraft reached a new industry record and stood at 7,577 aircraft, including 480 A220s, compared with 7,265 at the end of 2017.
Guillaume Faury, President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft, said: “Despite significant operational challenges, Airbus continued its production ramp-up and delivered a record number of aircraft in 2018.
“I am equally pleased about the healthy order intake as it shows the underlying strength of the commercial aircraft market and the trust our customers are placing in us. My gratitude goes out to all of them for their ongoing support. As we look to further increase our industrial efficiency, we will continue making the digitalisation of our business a key priority.”
For almost two decades, Airbus has increased production every year with the final assembly lines in Hamburg, Toulouse, Tianjin and Mobile complemented by the addition of the A220 line in Mirabel, Canada, during 2018. A notable contribution to Airbus’ delivery increase in 2018 came from the final assembly lines in the US and China.
For the top-selling A320 Family particularly, the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, saw its 100th delivery, and is now producing in excess of four units per month. Meanwhile, Airbus’ “FAL Asia” in Tianjin, China, achieved its 400th A320 delivery, while in Germany Airbus commenced operations of its new, fourth production line in Hamburg.
The A320 programme is expected to achieve rate 60 every month for the A320 Family by the middle of 2019.
