Airbus (AIR.PA) deliveries sped up last month to reach 497 airplanes so far in 2022, or an underlying 495 after ruling out two Aeroflot deliveries canceled because of Western sanctions against Russia, the planemaker said on Tuesday.
Airbus delivered sixty jets last month, up from 55 in September. It still has what many analysts have described as a stretching but broadly accomplishable task to hit a target of 700 deliveries this year, following problems with broken global supply chains.
“Airbus is going to have to match 2017 (201 deliveries for the two months remaining), 2018 (216), and 2019 (215 aircraft),” Agency Partners analyst Sash Tusa said in a note to investors.
“None of those years were much fun in production and management terms”.
Within the total deliveries so far in 2022, wide-body deliveries were strong, he added, highlighting the latest signs from manufacturers and leasing giant AerCap (AER.N) of a rebound in a segment of the market that has long been inactive.
The plane manufacturer also reported 177 new orders last month or 163 after the rejigging of a new order from British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L), which made an extensive order for 59 aircraft that replaced a previous batch of 14 single-aisle jets.
Airbus also placed an order for 40 jets from traditional Boeing operator Xiamen Airlines, which had provisionally made Airbus a supplier in September in a sign of Beijing’s evident shift towards Europe amid tensions with Washington.
China watchers said the airline’s decision to ease its reliance on Boeing was regarded as particularly symbolic after Chinese President Xi Jinping toured the cockpit of a larger Xiamen 787 on a visit to Boeing’s Seattle-area factory in 2015.
Boeing would not comment on the order, whose publication collided with the first day of China’s Zhuhai Airshow. The update comes along with existing orders for 140 jets re-posted by China last week in what experts deemed as an effort to flaunt a visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Nonetheless, that seemed to take both the German officials and the planemaker by surprise as Scholz intended to downplay new deals amid domestic concerns that Berlin would prioritize economic affiliations over security and other strategic matters.
Buy Crypto NowThe Xiamen deal took Airbus orders so far this year over the 1,000 mark. After 223 cancellations, its 1,033 gross orders subsided to a net 810 in the first 10 months. Boeing (BA.N) previously said its deliveries slumped in October as it encountered quality issues, while orders grew as the U.S. planemaker continued to see robust demand for new aircraft.
So far in 2022, it has placed 664 new orders, or 550 after cancellations and prior to accounting adjustments. Boeing, which is bouncing back from a 737 MAX safety crisis and industrial problems on the 787, said it had delivered 363 jets in the first 10 months of 2022.
