European plane maker delivered 793 jets in 2025 while Boeing struggles to reach 537, widening the gap in their long-running rivalry for the seventh consecutive year.
Airbus delivered 793 commercial aircraft to 91 customers worldwide in 2025, pulling further ahead of Boeing in a rivalry that has increasingly tilted toward the European manufacturer as its American competitor battles production and quality problems.
The deliveries represent a 4% increase over the 766 aircraft Airbus handed customers in 2024 and put the company well ahead of Boeing, which is expected to report delivery of 537 aircraft when it releases full-year figures Tuesday. The roughly 50% gap marks the seventh consecutive year Airbus has outpaced Boeing in deliveries and orders.
Airbus registered 1,000 new gross orders during the year and confirmed the figures Monday, underscoring its dominant position as Boeing continues struggling with manufacturing issues that have constrained production of its best-selling planes.
The European manufacturer started 2025 targeting 820 commercial aircraft deliveries, a 7% increase that appeared feasible as the company prepared to open two new final assembly lines in Mobile, Alabama, and Tianjin, China. However, supply chain disruptions forced the company to revise that goal downward to 790 aircraft in November.
Christian Scherer, the outgoing CEO of Commercial Aircraft, acknowledged during a media call Monday that the company was tested by quality issues late in the year. He said a supplier’s quality lapse on fuselage panels affecting the A320 family aircraft required swift action.
“We were tested very late in the year with something that we will never negotiate — safety and quality,” Scherer said. “A supplier’s quality lapse on fuselage panels required swift action, forcing us to unfortunately make an adjustment to our targets, but I think demonstrated our company’s commitment to safety and quality.”
Despite the setback, Airbus exceeded its revised target by delivering 136 aircraft in December alone, just short of its all-time monthly record of 138 set in December 2019. The December surge included 97 deliveries from the A320 family, demonstrating what Scherer called the company’s ability to execute under pressure.
The manufacturer delivered 93 A220 aircraft during 2025 to major customers including Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and Breeze Airways, representing a 24% increase over the prior year. In December, Airbus surpassed its long-term production rate target for the A220 for the first time, delivering 17 of the aircraft.
Scherer also highlighted ongoing issues with Pratt & Whitney engine deliveries, saying he expects these problems to continue into 2026. When asked whether Airbus has confirmed its engine delivery schedule for 2026, which will materially impact delivery targets, he said the manufacturer is “still in discussions with Pratt & Whitney regarding volumes for the foreseeable future.”
Engine deliveries “arrived late, but they arrived,” Scherer said, noting that the fuselage panel issues rather than propulsion problems drove the target revision.
Benoit de Saint-Exupéry, executive vice president of sales for Commercial Aircraft, emphasized the strong performance of Airbus’ widebody products, which ended 2025 with a record backlog of 1,124 aircraft. The A330neo had a record year with 102 orders.
When asked about Boeing’s success with the 787 Dreamliner, which secured 320 new orders during the year, de Saint-Exupéry offered a measured response about competition returning to the market.
“It’s good to see Boeing competing again after many years of difficulties,” de Saint-Exupéry said. “We welcome the competition of course, it makes all of us better. It’s indisputable that their order book benefited from strong political backing, but we are confident that we can compete and win based on our quality products and professionalism.”
Looking ahead, Airbus executives said 2026 will be a year of continued production capacity ramp-up, though they declined to announce specific delivery goals ahead of the company’s annual results report in February. The company is targeting more than 100 aircraft deliveries per month by the end of the decade.
Near-term production targets include 12 A220 aircraft per month by mid-2026, increasing to 14 monthly by year’s end. The company aims to produce 75 A320-family aircraft per month by 2027, with all final assembly lines now capable of building the larger A321 variant. Production of the A330 is expected to remain stable at four per month, potentially increasing to five by 2029, while A350 production is targeted to reach 12 aircraft monthly by 2028.
The company is also preparing for the first flight of the A350F freighter later this year. The long-awaited A350-1000ULR delivery to Qantas is scheduled for late 2026, enabling the Australian carrier’s Project Sunrise initiative with non-stop flights from Sydney to New York and London. The ultra-long-range aircraft can make journeys of up to 22 hours non-stop.
Key Takeaways
- Airbus delivered 793 commercial aircraft in 2025, exceeding its revised target of 790 and outpacing Boeing’s expected 537 deliveries by nearly 50% for the seventh consecutive year.
- Supply chain issues and fuselage panel quality problems forced Airbus to lower its original 820-aircraft delivery goal, though a near-record December with 136 deliveries helped the company surpass its revised target.
- Airbus plans aggressive production expansion through 2027, targeting 75 A320-family aircraft monthly and more than 100 total aircraft deliveries per month by decade’s end.
- Ongoing Pratt & Whitney engine delivery problems are expected to continue constraining Airbus production into 2026, with delivery volumes still under discussion between the companies.
