It’s been more than a year since Airbus made its final A380 delivery flight, with Emirates being the recipient back in December 2021. In that time, the A380 assembly line has been reconfigured as a finishing line for the A321XLR project, into which the company is investing the bulk of its efforts.
But there has been more than just progress with the A321XLR. In the last year or so, Airbus has delivered its 220th A220 – JetBlue being the recipients – while in excess of 500 A350s have now been delivered.
The speed at which some of these milestones has been reached can be considered impressive and is, considering the global situation, a testament to the resilience of the firm.
In a statement issued in January 2023, Airbus said it had served 84 customers with 663 deliveries, representing an 8% increase compared to 2021. Guillaume Faury, Airbus chief executive officer, said: “The significant order intake covering all our aircraft families including freighters, reflects the strength and competitiveness of our product line.”
Production of its greatest hits in the A320 Family is ongoing, with the final assembly line in China delivering its first A321neo, while A330neo orders are also taking off. It seems that Airbus has a lot to celebrate.
Just shy of seven years after the type made its introduction with launch customer Swiss, the A220 seems to be going from strength to strength. You can read more about Swiss and their operations with the A220, among others, later in this special section.<…
