Airbus’ commercial aircraft deliveries in 2016 were up for the 14th year in a row, reaching a new company record of 688 aircraft delivered to 82 customers. Deliveries were more than 8% higher than the previous record of 635 set in 2015. These included 545 single-aisle A320 Family aircraft (including 68 A320neos), 66 A330s, 49 A350 XWBs — just one shy of the 50-aircraft target — and 28 A380s. Over 40% of single aisle deliveries were the larger A321 models.
During the year, Airbus booked 731 net orders from 51 customers of which eight are new. These included 607 single-aisle and 124 wide-body aircraft. Total orders (for both Airbus and Boeing) are sharply down from the peak levels achieved in 2013-2015.
At the end of 2016, Airbus’ overall backlog stood at 6,874 aircraft valued at $1,018bn at list prices.
Milestones in 2016 included the delivery of the 10,000th Airbus aircraft, an A350 XWB for Singapore Airlines, and the successful first flight of the largest member of the family, the A350-1000. Airbus also commenced deliveries of both engine variants of the A320neo, and the first US-assembled aircraft, an A321, was delivered from Mobile, Alabama.
Other notable events included the entry into service of the first A330 regional and the start of construction of the China A330 Completion and Delivery Centre, while the A330neo commenced assembly in the Final Assembly Line.