In an announcement issued on July 8, 2024, Airbus said the company delivered 323 new aircraft in the period January to June 2024, an increase of 2% over the same period in 2023. In June 2024 alone, the planemaker delivered 67 new planes to customers as it attempts to keep pace with a ballooning order book.
The total of 323 aircraft deliveries represents around 42% of the company’s full-year target of 770. This figure was recently downgraded from 800 due to ongoing supply chain constraints and delays, as reported by AeroTime here. The number is made up of 261 A320neo family aircraft, with the monthly delivery rate of these products ranging between 41 to 53 airframes per month during the first half of 2024.
Airbus has been having a successful time since the start of 2024 while its main competitor Boeing struggles with complex safety and manufacturing issues affecting production rates.
In terms of new orders, Airbus saw 327 orders for new aircraft during the first half of 2024, although after cancellations, this figure bottoms out at 310 new firm orders. The figure of 310 includes 192 A320neo family aircraft with the balance being made up of wide-bodied aircraft. Interestingly, the manufacturer’s A220 product ended the period without any new orders.
Orders of note during the period include the IndiGo Airlines order for 30 A350-900s placed on June 6, 2024, while Uzbekistan Airways ordered a pair of A321neos to bolster its regional fleet. Additionally, an as-yet-undisclosed customer agreed to the purchase of a single A350 plus 36 narrow-bodied A321neos.
The Indigo deal takes the backlog of the number of outstanding orders for the A350 wide-bodied long-haul jet to 1,309 airframes. This figure breaks down as 955 of the -900 variant and 355 of the larger -1000 version.
On the military side, Airbus’ Defense division will take a further four A330-200s to be converted as air-to-air tankers.
Airbus in China
Also on July 8, 2024, the company celebrated the occasion of delivering its 700th A320 family aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) located in China’s northern Tianjin Municipality. The newly delivered aircraft, an A320neo, featuring 180 economy class seats, was handed over to Chengdu Airlines, joining another 49 Airbus aircraft already operated by the carrier.
The Airbus FALA facility in Tianjin first opened in 2008 and was the first Airbus production line established outside Europe. In 2024, the FALA has been operating for over 15 years and has become something of a ‘poster boy’ as an example of successful cooperation between Chinese and Western organizations.
“It means that at least every third Airbus A320 aircraft in China now comes from Airbus Tianjin,” said Christoph Schrempp, General Manager of the Airbus Tianjin Delivery Center, speaking to the People’s Daily website. “It underlines the strong commitment of Airbus to China, the Chinese aviation market, and its continuous development.”
“This figure highlights the long-standing and in-depth cooperation between Airbus and the Chinese aviation industry,” said George Xu, Airbus Executive Vice President and Airbus China CEO. “China is Airbus’ largest single-country market globally.”
Xu added that the annual number of aircraft delivered by the FALA to Chinese customers accounts for about 20% of its total global deliveries. Airbus has seen its market share in China climb from about 20% in 2008 to more than 50% so far this year. Other Chinese-built A320s are operated by several international carriers including Wizz Air and Cebu Pacific.