Airbus Orders Surge Past 400 While Qantas A350 Delivery Slippage Deepens Supply Chain Woes
25.05.2026 - 12:33:12 | boerse-global.de
For Airbus, the first four months of 2026 have laid bare a glaring disconnect. The order book is swelling at a rapid clip, yet the factory floor is failing to keep pace, leaving the stock mired in deeply oversold territory with a Relative Strength Index hovering around 11 — a level that typically signals a contrarian buying opportunity, but one that also reflects mounting investor unease.
Between January and April, the European planemaker netted 405 orders after accounting for cancellations. An undisclosed customer alone placed a firm order for 15 A350-900 widebodies, while buyers walked away from 20 A321neo jets. Over the same period, deliveries totalled 181 aircraft, down from 192 in the first four months of 2025 — a shortfall that underscores the persistent production bottlenecks.
Amid the delivery headwinds, two bright spots emerged. Saudi Arabian carrier Saudia took delivery of its first A321XLR, the ultra-long-range narrowbody capable of flying up to 4,700 nautical miles. The airline, which has 15 of the type on order, plans to launch commercial services in June 2026. In the defence segment, the Royal Thai Air Force ordered a pair of C295 tactical transports, to be assembled in Seville, Spain, with handover scheduled for 2029. Airbus commands roughly 85% of this market.
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These wins, however, were overshadowed by a fresh setback on the long-haul front. Qantas, Australia’s flagship carrier, will now receive its first batch of modified A350s in April 2027 rather than late 2026 as originally planned. The delay — caused by missing engines and late-arriving fuselage sections — pushes back the inaugural ultra-long-haul flights from Sydney to New York and London, which had been pencilled in for mid-2027. The postponement is all the more painful given that Airbus warned other customers of potential delays on standard A350s just weeks ago.
The supply-chain turmoil is already taking a heavy toll on profitability. First-quarter earnings slumped 52% year-on-year, a direct consequence of the slow delivery pace. The company’s management now faces a critical test: stabilise the production system in the coming months or risk missing the full-year delivery target.
Investors, for their part, showed surprising composure on Monday. Airbus shares edged up 1.44% to €42.20, recovering slightly from Friday’s close of €41.60. Even so, the stock has lost roughly 14% since the start of the year and remains well below its long-term moving average. The extremely low RSI reading of around 11 points to a rebound potential on technical grounds, but that will matter little unless the factory floor can deliver.
With an order pipeline still densely packed, the real proving ground for Airbus’s leadership lies not in the showroom but on the assembly line. If the company cannot swiftly untangle its supply constraints, the chasm between what customers want and what Airbus can deliver will only grow wider.
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