Airbus’ 2025 story: Deliveries rebound, backlog swells and momentum builds
January 13, 2026
Further to the news that at the end of December 2025, Airbus smashed its 2025 aircraft delivery target, the European planemaker has released further details on its overall performance throughout 2025.
With new aircraft deliveries reaching their highest levels in the post-pandemic era, the company will be looking for further success in 2026 as supply chain issues are expected to ease, and aviation analysts predict that the rate of new aircraft deliveries will increase.
2025 – An impressive year for orders and deliveries
At the start of 2025, Airbus said that it forecast delivering 820 new aircraft to customers before the end of the year. This figure was later adjusted downwards to around 790 aircraft, as supply chain bottlenecks continued to plague the aircraft manufacturing industry.
However, with a spectacular final push in December 2025, the company eventually chalked up 793 commercial aircraft deliveries, a figure that represents a 4% over 2024 and the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global airline industry in 2020 and 2021. These aircraft were delivered to a total of 91 different customers.
| Aircraft family | Deliveries |
|---|---|
| A220 family | 93 |
| A320 family | 607 |
| A330 family | 36 |
| A350 family | 57 |
| Total | 793 |
Airbus recorded 1,000 new aircraft orders in 2025
In addition to surpassing its delivery target for the year, Airbus says it also received exactly 1,000 new commercial aircraft orders during 2025, received from 57 customers. After taking cancellations and other adjustments into consideration, this number rounded out at 889 new orders in total.
With these new orders being added to the company’s already bulging order book, Airbus said in a statement on 13 January that its total backlog of commercial aircraft had reached 8,754 planes, a new year-end record for the company.
1,124 of these are twin-aisle, widebody jets. Airbus credited this record figure to “the strong market demand for Airbus’ product portfolio.”
Breaking down the new orders for 1,000 new aircraft in 2025, the company sold 295 widebody aircraft, with the balance made up of its single-aisle A220 and A320 families of aircraft.
Airbus’ 2025 order highlights
Notable new aircraft orders received in 2025 included STARLUX of Taiwan ordering five A350F freighters in January, followed by one of the world’s leading aircraft lessors, Jackson Square Aviation, placing a firm order for 50 A320neo family aircraft in March, making the lessor a new Airbus customer.
Also in March, AEGEAN Airlines of Greece ordered a further eight A321neo, while BOC Aviation ordered 70 A320neo family aircraft, and China Airlines ordered another ten A350-1000 widebody jets.
In early April, Taiwan’s EVA Air placed a firm order for six long-range A350-1000s and three single-aisle A321neo aircraft, finalising a commitment announced by the airline in March 2025. The new orders brought EVA Air’s backlog of Airbus aircraft to 24 A350-1000s and 18 A321neo aircraft.
Also in April, Saudia’s low-cost subsidiary Flyadeal announced an order for ten A330-900neos, the carrier’s first widebody aircraft, while in May, VietJet ordered 20 of the twin-aisle aircraft for its pan-Asian route network.
Later that same month, Air Niugini, the national carrier of Papua New Guinea, signed a firm order with Airbus for two more single-aisle A220-100s. This followed an initial order in 2023 for six aircraft.
Paris Air Show 2025
With the Paris Air Show underway in June 2025, Airbus performed well, racking up several new orders. AviLease, a global aircraft lessor headquartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced an initial order for 10 A350F freighters and 30 A320neo family aircraft.
This order was then supplemented by an order from Riyadh Air for 25 A350-1000 aircraft in an agreement which could potentially increase to 50 A350-1000 in the coming years.
Also at the Paris Air Show, ANA Holdings finalised an agreement by signing a firm order with Airbus for 24 single-aisle A321neo and three A321XLR, while LOT Polish Airlines deviated from Embraer with an order for up to 40 A220s.
VietJet followed up its A330neo order with a new commitment for 100 single-aisle A321neo aircraft. Egyptair ordered six A350s and STARLUX ordered another ten A350-1000s, rounding out a successful Paris Air Show 2025 for the manufacturer.
New orders – July to December 2025
In July, Malaysia Airlines placed orders for 20 A330neos, while aircraft lessor Avalon ordered 15 A330neos and 75 A320neo family aircraft.
Entering that last quarter of 2025, in October, India’s IndiGo placed orders for another 30 A350-900s, bringing its total commitment to the type to 60 aircraft. Korean Air became a new customer for the A350F after it converted seven of its existing A350-1000 passenger aircraft orders to the freighter variant. Air China then signed for six of the type in November.
A particularly notable order also came in November when Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways announced a significant expansion of its Airbus widebody fleet by placing a firm order for six A330-900s, becoming Airbus’ latest A330neo customer.
In addition, the airline disclosed an order for seven additional A350-1000s (increasing its total for the type to 27) and three A350F (bringing the airline’s A350F commitment to 10 aircraft).
A final flurry of orders late in the year at the Dubai Air Show in November, when flydubai ordered 150 A321neos, and Air Europa signed an MoU for up to 40 A350-900s. Also at the show, Ethiopian Airlines signed for a further six A350-900s, and Buraq Air of Libya placed its first-ever new aircraft order for ten A320neos.
Rounding off the year, in December, China Airlines placed a firm order for five additional Airbus A350-1000s, taking its total order for the type to 15. The A350-1000 aircraft will complement the carrier’s existing long-haul fleet of 15 A350-900s.
Airbus maintained an “upward trajectory” throughout 2025
As the Airbus statement concluded, “In a continued complex and dynamic operating environment, deliveries in 2025 maintained an upward trajectory. The year witnessed several landmark deliveries and welcomed new operators of the A220, the A321XLR, the A330neo, and the A350-1000.
“Airbus also won repeat orders and key new customers in both single-aisle and widebody campaigns, with the widebody backlog reaching a new year-end record.
Airbus added that the company’s 2025 full-year financial results will be disclosed on 19 February 2026.
Featured image: Airbus
