Airbus jet deliveries just short of target

Paris — Airbus missed its headline delivery target by a whisker in 2024, provisionally releasing more than 765 jets to airlines and lessors, industry sources said, citing preliminary data.

Airbus notionally delivered more than 122 planes in December, bringing the total for the year to just more than 765, they said.

Airbus declined to discuss any details ahead of an annual commercial update planned for January 9.

“We are unable to comment on the numbers until then, as our figures are now being audited as per the usual process,” a spokesperson said.

The European plane maker had forecast “about 770” deliveries after lowering its target in July due to supply problems, and averted a potential second profit warning after striking a deal over extra engine supplies in November.

But supplies of interiors remain a persistent problem and some deliveries had to be shelved amid complex negotiations between airline, plane maker and seat supplier, leaving the 770 target narrowly out of reach, the sources said.

Widely watched underlying output of single-aisle jets has reached about 60 a month after stagnating at about 50 as supply chains struggled to recover from the pandemic, the sources said. Airbus is targeting 75 a month in 2027.

Delivery data is subject to audit and can change at the last minute, with some discretion allowed in whether deliveries can be booked before the change of ownership is complete, though one source said such “paper” deliveries had fallen in 2024.

Airbus had already prepared the ground for a slight miss in the delivery target by telling analysts that a shortfall of anything less than 20 jets would not be considered material, and therefore not serious enough to warrant a new profit warning.

The Airbus spokesperson reiterated this margin of error, noting that CEO Guillaume Faury had referred to a range of plus or minus 20 when discussing third-quarter results in October.

Airbus generates most of its operating profits and most of its cash flow from commercial jet deliveries.

Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that Airbus had delivered about 760 planes in 2024.

Airbus will give forecasts for 2025 with full results on February 20.

Reuters