Airbus Chases 870-Jet Delivery Goal While Prepping A350F Debut and A321neo Fix
Published on 09/28/2026 at 15:02 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Airbus is holding firm to its full-year delivery target even as its factory floors absorb the twin demands of a freighter maiden flight and a wide-ranging fuselage rework. Management has reiterated that roughly 870 commercial aircraft should reach customers across the whole of 2026, a pledge that now leans heavily on the closing months of the calendar.
Between January and August, the planemaker handed over about 475 jets, according to Reuters. Hitting the annual figure therefore requires a marked step-up in the handover pace over the remainder of the year.
Two-Year Window Set Aside for A321neo Priming Defect
On the industrial front, Airbus is working alongside partner Leonardo to address quality shortfalls on the A321neo family. The joint review centres on irregularities in the protective primer applied to fuselage longitudinal beams, a problem touching around 500 aircraft.
The company has made clear that flight safety is unaffected by the gaps in the anti-corrosion coating, and carriers can keep taking delivery of ordered jets on schedule. To carry out the necessary rework, Airbus is giving affected operators a two-year window, with each individual repair expected to take up to nine days per aircraft. That staggered approach is designed to spare airlines extended grounding while keeping the production line running steadily.
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A350F Poised for First Flight After Brief Delay
A separate milestone lands as soon as Tuesday, when the A350F is due to lift off from Toulouse on its official maiden flight. The debut comes after the original date slipped by five days, and it marks the formal start of the flight-test campaign for the new widebody freighter.
A validation phase of roughly nine months now begins. Two test aircraft will be deployed to log the 400 flight hours needed for type certification — a campaign that will determine whether the wider, billion-euro programme stays on track. Airbus is currently targeting first customer delivery for the end of 2027, with the industrial ramp-up to higher output rates pencilled in for 2028. More than 70 percent of the jet's fuselage is built from advanced composite materials, and with a payload of 109 tonnes it is designed to fly about 8,700 kilometres.
Freighter Order Book Builds Against Boeing
In the market for new-build large freighters, the model squares off directly against US rival Boeing and its 777-8 Freighter — a segment long dominated by the American manufacturer and one of clear strategic weight for the European group. So far Airbus has booked 107 firm orders from 14 airlines and leasing companies, a roster that includes Atlas Air with 20 units and both Air China Cargo and Etihad with ten apiece. Even before the first flight, that demand already outstrips sales of earlier in-house cargo models by a wide margin.
Defence Pitch and Passenger Fleet Momentum
Alongside its civil programmes, Airbus is scouting fresh business in the defence arena. The group plans to submit an unsolicited proposal to Portugal in late October or early November covering the supply of Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets. Lisbon is weighing a replacement for its F-16 fleet but has yet to launch a formal tender.
The company's commercial course also draws support from sustained aircraft demand. According to Airbus's president for the Asia-Pacific region, the group is seeing no softening in orders or deliveries despite geopolitical tensions and lingering supply-chain strain. On the passenger side, American Airlines added another A321XLR to its US fleet on 23 September, while the carrier is reviewing options for further long-haul orders, with the A330neo family among those under discussion.
Investors took the mix of repair workload and reconfirmed guidance in their stride. Airbus shares changed hands at 193.84 euros, a modest 0.1 percent decline that left the stock near its previous close, and about 1.7 percent above its 200-day moving average of 190.53 euros.
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