Airbus Keeps Target of 870 Deliveries in 2026 After a Slower Third Quarter

TOULOUSE, France, 28 October 2026 – Airbus has kept its target of around 870 commercial aircraft deliveries in 2026 after a third quarter in which it handed over fewer jets than a year earlier. The company delivered 547 aircraft in the first nine months, up from 507, according to its nine-month results release.

Delivering 870 would beat Airbus’s previous annual record of 863, set in 2019, AFP reported. It means about 323 deliveries between October and December.

The numbers

• Revenue: EUR 50.6 billion for the nine months, up 7%; third-quarter revenue fell 2% to EUR 17.5 billion
• Profit: adjusted operating profit (EBIT Adjusted, Airbus’s own measure) of EUR 4.5 billion, up 8%; net income of EUR 3.6 billion, up 36%
• Orders: 1,174 gross and 1,105 net orders, against 514 net a year earlier, for a backlog of 9,310 aircraft
• Cash: free cash flow before customer financing of minus EUR 1.3 billion, which Airbus says reflects stock built up for year-end deliveries

In the third quarter alone, Airbus delivered 196 aircraft against 201 a year earlier, AFP said. Third-quarter revenue of EUR 17.47 billion fell short of the EUR 18.05 billion analysts expected, Investing.com reported. Airbus also booked EUR 235 million of costs for integrating former Spirit AeroSystems work packages.

Why the third quarter was slower

Airbus put the lower quarterly profit down to fewer deliveries, a less favourable mix of aircraft and the Spirit AeroSystems integration. FlightGlobal reports that fewer A330s were handed over because horizontal stabilisers had to be inspected over a lost tool. On the analyst call, Faury said every A330 now leaving production has been inspected and can be delivered, according to an Investing.com transcript.

Engines remain the bigger constraint. “For the A320 Family, the Pratt & Whitney engines remain the main so-called pacing item for the ramp-up,” Faury said on the call. He added that engines would stay the pacing item in 2027 for both of the family’s engine suppliers, Pratt & Whitney and CFM. In a statement, he said Airbus is “focused on delivery while maintaining a steadfast focus on quality.”

Production plans unchanged

Airbus kept all of its production targets. It still aims to build 70 to 75 A320 family jets a month by the end of 2027 and then settle at 75, along with 13 A220s a month in 2028, 12 A350s a month in 2028 and five A330s a month in 2029, the release says.

Chief financial officer Thomas Toepfer cautioned that the fourth-quarter deliveries include a slightly higher share of the smaller A220. Faury also said the A350F freighter has completed its first flight and its flight test campaign has started, ahead of entry into service planned for the second half of 2027.

What it means for airlines and passengers

The A320 family made up 428 of the 547 deliveries so far this year, so engine supply for these single-aisle jets largely decides how many new aircraft airlines receive. Read our A321neo review for what the aircraft offers passengers.

In late September, Airbus said it had found and contained a defect in the anti-corrosion protection on forward fuselage stringers of some A321neos. Airbus said the problem posed no immediate safety risk and that a fix is available, and Europe’s regulator EASA said it saw no immediate safety concern, ch-aviation reported. Airbus has not said how many aircraft are affected. “It is not a safety issue, and the flying fleet continues to operate,” Faury said on the call.

For comparison, Boeing delivered 161 jets in its own third quarter, as we reported in our Boeing Q3 results story.

Read more

• Airbus A321neo review
• Airbus A321neo vs Boeing 737 MAX 10
• Safran LEAP engine deliveries rise 26%
• Boeing narrows Q3 loss, still targets first 777X delivery in 2027

Sources: Airbus nine-month 2026 results release, 28 October 2026; Airbus Q3 2026 earnings call transcript (Investing.com), 28 October 2026; AFP via Yahoo Finance, 28 October 2026; Investing.com via Yahoo Finance, 28 October 2026; FlightGlobal, 28 October 2026; ch-aviation, 28 September 2026.

Featured image: FlyingFuel graphic using a photo of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A321neo awaiting delivery at Hamburg-Finkenwerder by MarcelX42, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.