An Airbus A350 XWB jet in flight 49 of the aircraft were delivered in 2018. (Airbus)
Airbus set a new high mark for the company, delivering 800 commercial aircraft to 93 customers in 2018, the company has revealed.
Just six off the 806 competitor Boeing produced, Airbus’ figure marks an 11 percent growth over the prior year, led by 626 A320 family jets — more than half of them A320neos.
The model that saw the next-most deliveries in 2018 was the wide-body A350 XWB, of which the European firm delivered 93. Airbus delivered 49 A330s (including the first three A330neo jets), 20 A220s (formerly the Bombardier C Series) and 12 of the double-decker A380.
“Despite significant operational challenges, Airbus continued its production ramp-up and delivered a record number of aircraft in 2018,” Guillaume Faury, president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft, said in a statement. “As we look to further increase our industrial efficiency, we will continue making the digitalization of our business a key priority.”
Faury also lauded his company’s order intake, where Airbus saw 747 net orders. That is down from 2017’s 1,109 orders and falls short of Boeing’s 893, but still leaves Airbus with an industry-leading and company-record backlog of 7,577 aircraft compared to its American counterpart’s 5,873.
Key this year for Airbus was its partnership with Canadian company Bombardier and acquisition of a majority stake in the flagging C Series, which Airbus rebranded as the A220. Airbus faced various production delays in 2018, but adding 20 A220 deliveries allowed it to exactly meet its 800 target deliveries for the year.
Airbus’ deliveries and orders in 2018. (Airbus)