First quarter 2023: 127 deliveries versus 140 a year earlier

Airbus delivered 127 aircraft in the first quarter of 2023 versus 140 in the same period of 2022. Consolation prize: 127 is better than the first quarters of 2021 and 2020 (125 and 122 respectively). In the first quarter of 2019, Airbus had delivered 162 commercial aircraft. The recovery is therefore likely to take longer than expected due to persistent difficulties in the chains of the European manufacturer's engine and equipment suppliers. These 127 deliveries appear to be three units short of an internal target (130) but two units above some financial analysts' forecasts (125).

11 Airbus A330-900 and A350-900

Single-aisle aircraft continue to account for the bulk of deliveries (116 versus 120 in the first quarter of 2022) while twin-aisle deliveries are also down from the same period of 2022, at 11 Airbus A330s and A350s (10 A330-900s and A350-900s delivered in the first quarter of 2023) compared to 20, including 18 A330s-900s, A350-900s, and A350-1000s, a year earlier.

142 net sales thanks to the return of Qatar Airways

Gross sales are for 156 aircraft reduced to 142 net thanks to the return of Qatar Airways, whose 50 A321neo and 23 A350-1000 are back on the books after the airline and Airbus managed to reach an agreement that ends their "legal wrangle." Qatar Airways alone accounts for half of net sales in the first quarter of 2023. Airbus had finished the first quarter of 2022 with only 83 net sales after 170 cancellations were taken into account, including 63 A321neo and 83 A330-900 aircraft.