Airbus Delivers Record Narrow-Body Jets Amid Aviation Demand Surge

Toulouse-based Airbus posts its highest-ever annual aircraft deliveries as airlines worldwide rush to expand capacity after pandemic recovery.

Full Speed Ahead: Airbus Sets New Delivery Records as Aviation Booms

Airbus, the European aerospace giant headquartered in Toulouse, France, announced its highest-ever annual aircraft delivery figure for 2025 in its January 2026 results presentation, having delivered 770 commercial aircraft to airline customers worldwide — a record that beat the previous peak set before the pandemic. The achievement reflects both the extraordinary pent-up demand for air travel that was released as pandemic restrictions ended and accumulated over several years, and the operational improvements that CEO Guillaume Faury has driven through the company's manufacturing facilities to address the supply chain disruptions that plagued production rates in 2022 and 2023.

The A320neo family — Airbus's most popular narrow-body aircraft — accounted for the vast majority of deliveries, with airlines from Ryanair to IndiGo to Air China taking delivery of new fuel-efficient aircraft to replace older generation jets and expand their networks. The A350 wide-body continues to win market share in the long-haul market, with major orders from Asian and Middle Eastern carriers positioning Airbus strongly against Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in the most commercially valuable segment of the commercial aircraft market.

Airbus's order backlog has grown to over 8,700 aircraft, representing approximately eleven years of production at current delivery rates. This exceptional backlog provides extraordinary revenue visibility but also creates pressure to continue increasing production rates, with the company targeting 75 A320 family aircraft per month by 2027. Achieving that target requires solving persistent constraints in engine supply — both CFM International and Pratt & Whitney have struggled to match Airbus's assembly pace — as well as expanding capacity at fuselage, wing, and systems suppliers across the European supply chain.