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Airbus on May 3 reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2023, which showed a slight decrease in consolidated revenues from US$13.2 billion in Q1 2022 to US$13 billion in Q1/23. Revenues generated by the OEM’s commercial aircraft products also decreased five percent year-on-year, which the company said was due to lower deliveries.
Airbus delivered a total of 127 commercial aircraft in the quarter, comprised of 10 A220, 106 A320 Family, six A330, and five A350 aircraft. In comparison, Airbus in Q1/22 delivered a total of 142 commercial aircraft, comprised of 11 A220, 109 A320 Family, six A330,16 A350 aircraft.
At the end of the first quarter of 2023, Airbus’s commercial aircraft backlog remained healthy at 7,254. The OEM received net orders of 142 aircraft, up from 83 in the same period last year.
Despite its commercial aircraft results, Airbus reported a successful quarter for its helicopter division, with 71 units delivered — up from 38 in Q1/22 — which translated to a 26 percent increase in revenues. The company registered 39 net orders for helicopters in the quarter.
“We continue to face an adverse operating environment that includes in particular persistent tensions in the supply chain,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus chief executive officer. “Our 2023 guidance is unchanged with commercial aircraft deliveries expected to be backloaded. We remain focused on delivering the commercial aircraft ramp-up and longer-term transformation.”
In February this year, Airbus shared that it is looking to fill over 800 positions in Canada to accelerate production of its A220 aircraft. As of August 2022, Airbus was producing a total of 72 A220s per year between its Mirabel, Quebec, and Mobile, Alabama, facilities. In its Q1/23 report, Airbus confirmed that it remains on track to increase that number to 168 units per year by 2025 — which means a monthly production rate of 10 units at Mirabel and four at Mobile.
As for the A320 Family, Airbus is working towards producing 65 aircraft per month by 2024. That number is expected to increase to 75 per month in 2026, with the introduction of a second final assembly line in Tianjin, China. That will bring the total number of global A320 Family final assembly lines to 10.
Airbus is also targeting a monthly A330 production rate of four in 2024, and a monthly A350 production rate of nine at the end of 2025.
Entry into service of Airbus’s new A350 Freighter (A350F), which was announced in mid-2021, has slipped from the end of 2025 to into early 2026. The OEM said that although the first components were recently produced by Airbus Atlantic in Nantes, France, “the industrial planning for this variant is being slightly adjusted.”
Entry into service of Airbus’s new A321XLR, however, remains on track for the second quarter of 2024, as the flight test program continues to progress. Just last month, Airbus concluded its second cold weather testing campaign with the A321XLR in Iqaluit, Nunavut. As of the end of June 2022, orders for the A321XLR stood at 500, from more than 20 customers.
The company’s guidance for 2023 remains unchanged from its full-year 2022 results reported in February this year. Assuming no further disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, and Airbus’s internal operations, the company expects to deliver 720 commercial aircraft this year.
Find Airbus’s full Q1 2023 financial results report here.
