Industry Airbus and Boeing achieve new delivery record

Airbus in total delivered 800 commercial aircraft to 93 worldwide customers. This means, that the company has successfully met its full year delivery guidance. In terms of deliveries, 2018 has been a record year for Airbus. The year before, in 2017, Airbus delivered 11 percent less aircraft (718).

When it comes to sale, Airbus achieved 747 net orders during last year. Currently, the backlog of Airbus commercial aircraft stands at 7,577 aircraft, a new industry record. The backlog now also includes the 480 A220 that are yet to be produced.

Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft, said: “Despite significant operational challenges, Airbus continued its production ramp-up and delivered a record number of aircraft in 2018. I salute our teams around the globe who worked until the end of the year to meet our commitments.”

Currently, Airbus is producing aircraft in four facilities, with Toulouse being the largest one. Hamburg, Tianjin, Mobile and Mirabel complete the manufacturer´s Final Assembly Line system. In 2018, Airbus delivered its 100th aircraft from Mobile and its 400th from Tianjin. In Hamburg, a new FAL was introduced. For 2019, Airbus seeks to achieve a delivery rate of 60 aircraft per month.

Airbus´ main rival Boeing reported a new delivery record as well. The U.S.-Manufacturer also expanded its order backlog.

Boeing delivered 806 aircraft, surpassing the 763 deliveries of 2017. In terms of sale, Boeing was able to confirm 893 net orders, 203 of them in December alone. At list prices, all orders are valued at US$143.7 billion. The manufacturers´ backlog currently is seven-year long.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Kevin McAllister, said: "Boeing raised the bar again in 2018 thanks to our teammates' incredible focus on meeting customer commitments, and continuously improving quality and productivity [...] In a dynamic year, our production discipline and our supplier partners helped us build and deliver more airplanes than ever before to satisfy the strong demand for air travel across the globe."

580 of the 806 deliveries have been from the popular 737 series. Especially the MAX family came to life this year. Boeing is currently producing 52 737 aircraft per month. Next year will see Ryanair receiving its first 737 MAX 200.

This year, Boeing will further grow its numbers and the rivalry between Airbus and Boeing is set to become more intense than it has been ever before.