Recovery post-pandemic: Airbus breaks records for A320 and A350 orders
Airbus, the world's leading aircraft manufacturer, has achieved record-breaking aircraft production figures. In particular, the company is proud of the 2,094 net orders for aircraft in the previous year.
Despite persistent supply problems, the company managed to deliver 735 aircraft to customers, exceeding the target of 720 aircraft. However, Airbus' new orders broke the previous record of 1,503 aircraft in 2013, as reported by Businessworld.
According to Airbus representatives, they expected that after the Covid-19 pandemic, aviation would recover somewhere between 2023-2025. However, to their surprise, the airplane market returned much earlier than expected.
Airbus is proud to have won major contracts with airlines, including India's IndiGo, which has placed the largest civil aviation order in history for 500 A320s. In addition, Air India ordered 250 aircraft, Turkish Airlines - 230 aircraft. It is noted that Airbus has never sold so many A320 or A350 aircraft in a single year.
According to published data, as of the end of last year, the company's total orders amounted to 8,598 aircraft. Airbus has already begun developing a successor to the popular A320 family for the second half of the 2030s and aims to produce a hydrogen aircraft by 2035 that will not emit CO2.
It is emphasized that the bulk of Airbus' deliveries last year were A320s, followed by 68 small A220s and 64 long-haul A350s. Notably, Airbus' new orders exceeded those of its American competitor Boeing, which received 1,314 net orders last year.
Despite the fact that Airbus is optimistic about the future, stating that 70 percent of the aircraft in service are still older generation aircraft that need to be replaced, the company faces constant problems due to its network of about 18,000 suppliers.
It is specified that many of them are still trying to recover from the Covid pandemic, and rapid inflation has made it difficult to purchase materials. Prior to the pandemic and subsequent quarantine measures that hit the industry worldwide, the company was producing 60 A320s per month.
