Airbus has released its figures for January, showing orders for a total of 37 passenger aircraft last month, all of which were narrowbodies. The manufacturer also received an order for four widebody freighter aircraft. Which airlines did the orders come from?

A significant order came from Uzbekistan Airways, for eight Airbus A320neos and four Airbus A321neos. Two of the aircraft will replace the airline’s aging Boeing 757-200 aircraft, with the rest providing the opportunity for fleet expansion and network growth.

The Uzbek flag carrier’s existing Airbus A320neos seat a total of 150 passengers in a two-class configuration – 12 in business class and 138 in economy class. The configuration of its Airbus A321neos is yet to be revealed.

Photo: Bengt LAnge via Airbus

Delta Air Lines’ growing fleet of Airbus A220s

Delta Air Lines placed an additional order for 12 Airbus A220-300s, bringing its total to 60. Once delivered, these aircraft will join the carrier’s existing fleet of 59 Airbus A220s, 45 of which are the smaller -100 variant, and 14 are the larger -300 variant. Data from ch-aviation.com shows that they have an average age of 3.2 and 1.6 years old, respectively.

One Airbus A320neo was ordered by the Dubai-based aircraft lessor, DAE Capital. The other 12 orders (six Airbus A320neos and six Airbus A321neos) were made by undisclosed carriers.

One cancelation was also made (an Airbus A320neo), bringing Airbus’ total net orders down to 36 for the month. Coincidentally, this is exactly in line with the same period last year – in January 2022, Airbus received 36 aircraft orders.

Image: Airbus

The manufacturer received no widebody passenger aircraft orders in January 2023, but did manage to secure an order for four Airbus A350Fs from KLM Cargo. The four aircraft will be operated by Martinair, bringing significant sustainability benefits compared to its current Boeing 747-400F aircraft.

Over at rival Boeing, January has been a quieter month, with the US manufacturer receiving an order for just two Boeing 787-9s from Hawaiian Airlines.

20 deliveries to 15 customers

In addition to receiving orders for 37 aircraft in January 2023, Airbus delivered 20 aircraft to 15 customers. This included both one A330-900 and one Airbus A350-900 to Air Lease Corporation (ALC), destined ultimately for Virgin Atlantic and Starlux Airlines, respectively.

Photo: Virgin Atlantic

Iraqi Airways and Air Canada each received one Airbus A220-300. Meanwhile, Tibet Airlines took delivery of two Airbus A319neos, making it one of the few carriers worldwide to operate the type, which has proved to be much less popular than the Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo. Spirit Airlines and China Southern Airlines are among the other airlines to have ordered the smallest member of the Airbus A320 family.

The figures show that Airbus delivered ten fewer aircraft in January 2023 than in the same month last year, when it delivered 30 aircraft.

What do you think of Airbus’ latest order and delivery statistics? Are there any surprises? Share your thoughts by commenting below.