Airbus delivered 547 commercial aircraft in the first nine months of 2026, up from 507 a year earlier, and kept its target of around 870 deliveries for the full year, the company said on October 28. Meeting that target would require about 323 deliveries in the fourth quarter, well above the pace of the first three quarters.

The nine-month total comprised 68 A220s, 428 A320 Family aircraft, 13 A330s and 38 A350s. Airbus did not give a separate third-quarter figure, but its half-year results published on July 29 reported 351 deliveries in the first half: 44 A220s, 271 A320 Family aircraft, 10 A330s and 26 A350s.

By subtraction, Airbus delivered 196 aircraft in the third quarter, including 157 from the A320 Family, 24 A220s, 12 A350s and three A330s. Using the same method, the company’s comparative figures for 2025 (306 in the first half and 507 over nine months) imply 201 deliveries in the third quarter of 2025.

Production rate targets unchanged

Airbus repeated the production rate targets it gave in July. It said the A220 ramp-up is ongoing toward a rate of 13 aircraft per month in 2028. For the A320 Family, it expects to reach a rate of 70 to 75 aircraft per month by the end of 2027, stabilizing at rate 75 after that. The A330 target is rate 5 in 2029, and the A350 target is rate 12 in 2028.

The full-year guidance also includes an EBIT Adjusted of about €7.5 billion and free cash flow before customer financing of about €4.5 billion. Airbus said the guidance assumes no additional disruptions to global trade, the economy, air traffic, the supply chain, its internal operations, or its ability to deliver. It is stated before mergers and acquisitions and includes currently applicable tariffs.

Inventory and Spirit AeroSystems work

The production ramp is visible in the company’s cash flow. Free cash flow before customer financing was an outflow of €1,268 million in the first nine months, compared with an outflow of €914 million a year earlier. Airbus said the outflow mainly reflected working capital, including an inventory build-up tied to the back-end-loaded delivery profile and the ramp-up.

Integrating the work packages Airbus took over from Spirit AeroSystems produced a negative adjustment of €235 million to reported EBIT over nine months, of which €112 million was booked in the third quarter. The half-year release had reported €123 million for the first six months.

Chief executive Guillaume Faury said Airbus is “focused on delivery while maintaining a steadfast focus on quality.”

Orders, backlog and results

Gross commercial aircraft orders were 1,174 in the nine months, against 610 a year earlier, and net orders were 1,105, against 514. The commercial aircraft backlog stood at 9,310 aircraft at the end of September, up from 8,665 a year earlier.

Consolidated revenues rose 7% to €50.6 billion and EBIT Adjusted rose to €4,495 million from €4,146 million. Commercial aircraft revenues increased 8% to €36.7 billion. Airbus Helicopters delivered 226 units, up from 218, and Airbus Defence and Space recorded order intake of €11.5 billion, up from €6.8 billion.

Why it matters

For aerostructures, engine and component suppliers, Airbus’s unchanged rate targets, which run as far as 2029 for the A330, point to continued ramp-up demand, and the delivery schedule leaves a large share of 2026 output to be handed over in the final quarter. Third-quarter deliveries were roughly level with a year earlier, so most of the year’s increase so far came in the first half.

The inventory build-up also matters for the supply chain. Airbus is building inventory ahead of a back-end-loaded delivery profile, and its guidance depends on no further disruption to the supply chain or its own operations.

What to watch

The fourth-quarter delivery count will show whether Airbus reaches around 870 aircraft for the year. Full-year results will confirm the outcome and show whether the production rate targets for the A220, A320 Family, A330 and A350 remain in place.

The caveats

Third-quarter delivery counts in this report are calculated from Airbus’s half-year and nine-month figures rather than reported directly by the company. All figures are company-reported.