PARIS – Airbus airplane deliveries reached the mid-730s in 2023, beating a target of 720, industry sources said on Jan 2.

Airbus declined to comment ahead of a full-year announcement of commercial aircraft data on Jan 11.

The figure suggests that Airbus delivered more than 50 planes in just over 10 days after Reuters reported on Dec 19 that deliveries had already reached 680 planes, taking some urgency out of its traditional year-end scramble to hit the main industry target.

Airbus also broke industry records for gross and net orders, according to several people familiar with the numbers.

It was the second time since the Covid-19 pandemic that the world’s largest planemaker had tried to recapture the 720 mark for annual deliveries, after supply pressures dashed the attempt in 2022.

One supplier said the European group had requested enough parts from suppliers to cover 740 deliveries for 2023.

After a weak start to that year, analysts have voiced increasing confidence that Airbus will meet its delivery targets in 2023, but say 2024 will be challenging, with the production ramp-up hampered by shortages of materials and parts.

Jefferies analysts said in a note on Jan 2 that Airbus delivered an estimated 109 airplanes in December, up 11 per cent from the same month in 2022 and implying 732 deliveries for 2023.

Citing preliminary data from Aviation Flights Group, Bloomberg reported earlier that Airbus had probably delivered 733 airplanes in 2023. REUTERS