Airbus sets sales record in 2023 amid surging aircraft demand

Airbus SE set a sales record in 2023 by racking up more than 2,000 net orders, as airlines splashed out on purchases amid surging demand for fuel-efficient aircraft following the pandemic.

The European planemaker registered 2,094 net orders, driven largely by mega deals from India’s IndiGo and Air India, as well as a purchase by Turkish Airlines that was announced in December. Airbus also beat its annual delivery target in 2023 by achieving 735 handovers. The goal had been for about 720 deliveries.

Airbus comfortably broke its previous sales record, set in 2014, in what has been one of the most active purchasing periods in aviation history. The company’s A320neo family of single-aisle aircraft has been particularly successful, but Airbus has also gained momentum with its A350 widebody model, most notably the larger -1000 variant. 

“We originally anticipated aviation to recover sometime in the 2023-2025 time frame, but what we saw in 2023 was, alongside the single-aisle market, widebody return much sooner than expected, and with vigor,” said Christian Scherer, the chief executive officer for commercial aircraft at Airbus. “Travel is back and there is serious momentum.”

Orders exceeding 100 aircraft, once a rare occurrence in the industry, were increasingly commonplace in 2023 and Airbus and rival Boeing Co. are practically sold out for the rest of the decade on their best-selling models. 

Boeing also managed its highest annual sales total in almost a decade: 1,456 gross, or 1,314 planes net of cancellations and conversions, according to a statement earlier in the week. Still, that achievement has been marred by increased scrutiny over its workhorse 737 jet following an accident on an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5 that has led to a partial grounding of the 737 Max 9 fleet.