European aviation giant Airbus delivered 72 planes in September, bringing nine-month deliveries to 547 aircraft, up 8% from the same point in 2025.
September deliveries, however, remained largely unchanged from the 73 planes delivered in the same month a year earlier.
The planemaker is now targeting around 870 deliveries for the full year, up 10% from 793 in 2025.
Airbus sold 17 planes in September to bring the total number of gross orders for the year so far to 1,174 jets. After new cancellations of three jets in the month, the aviation giant posted 1,105 net orders for the first nine months.
Airbus is on its way to decide “sooner rather than later” on increased production capacity for its A350 wide-body jet, amid its intense rivalry with Boeing.
As per Airbus’ commercial CEO Lars Wagner, the company will be doubling down on the A350. It is currently studying launching bigger versions of the aircraft as well as its smallest model, the loss-making A220, with decisions on both projects expected towards the beginning of a five-year planning period.
“The decision for an increased rate on the A350 is inevitable. We’re going to do it because the market clearly demands more aircraft,” Wagner told a news briefing.
“It’s a big decision, so we need to bring it to the board of directors. But this is going to happen rather sooner than later,” he added further.
“Airbus has one assembly line for the carbon-fiber jet, designed to compete with Boeing’s lightweight 787 and delayed 777X. The plant was designed to handle 12 to 13 jets a month. Going higher would need a new line and industrial system,” Wagner said.
“Separately, there is clearly demand for a longer A350 with more seats, widely dubbed the A350-2000, and a bigger version of the roughly 130-seat A220, known as the A220-500,” the senior official noted.
The former MTU Aero Engines CEO, who took the helm of Airbus’ largest division in 2026, didn’t answer the future of Rolls-Royce’s position as sole engine maker on the A350 when it comes to powering the new version.
As per the Reuters report, Airbus is also looking at the prospect of using an engine from GE Aerospace for the roughly 400-seat A350-2000, but the engine maker has so far shown limited interest in joining the programme.
“Longer term, Airbus continues to look at a notional date of 2030 for launching an all-new single-aisle jet,” Wagner concluded.