Airbus delivers 81 aircraft in May 2026: speeding up the output rate

Qantas is the only airline that has ordered such a variation of the A350-1000 with 12 total aircraft on order.

Airbus speeds up the delivery rate in May of 2026. Last month, the European manufacturer handed over 81 aircraft to airlines, marking an increase in output compared to April when it stood at 67. Let’s go through the numbers and break down how the performance looks between narrow and wide-body aircraft and what the trajectory is for the European aircraft manufacturer.


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Airbus’ May with 81 aircraft delivered – speeding up towards guidance levels

May marked a significant speed-up in Airbus’ aircraft delivery rate. This is not at all uncommon for the European manufacturer that usually tends to deliver more of its aircraft in the second half of the year.

As we move closer to H2, the airline is speeding up the rate at which it delivers aircraft to its clients. In May of 2026, Airbus delivered 81 aircraft, up from 67 the prior month.

As you might expect, the most significant increase contributing towards that 81 aircraft delivered comes from the narrow-body segment.

SegmentDeliveries (May 2026)Deliveries (April 2026)
Wide Body87
Narrow Body7360
The first Saudia Airbus A321XLR, which is also the first aircraft of the type to be delivered to a Middle Eastern carrier
The Saudia Airbus A321XLR was one of the 41 A321Nios delivered by Airbus to its clients in May of 2026

Thirteen more narrowbodies delivered in May 2026

As mentioned above, the biggest contribution towards the 14 aircraft increase in May of 2026 comes from the Narrow Body Segment.

Thirteen more narrow-body aircraft were delivered in the single month of May over April of 2026.

The biggest contributor to that increase is the A321neo. In May, Airbus delivered 41 Airbus A321neo, which confirms its status as the most popular variant of the A320 family of aircraft. That is up from 32 delivered in April of 2026.

Once again, it’s two low-cost airlines that take the biggest number of A321s in the month of May. Namely, Wizz Air from Europe and IndiGo from India.

Each of these carriers took delivery of four Airbus A321neo with right behind them, three American carriers at 3 aircraft delivered: United Airlines, Frontier and Delta.

AirlineA220-300A319neoA320neoA321neo
WIZZ AIR4
INDIGO4
UNITED AIRLINES3
FRONTIER3
DELTA AIR LINES13
CHINA EASTERN22
JET22
TRANSAVIA3
EASYJET12
AIR CHINA12
THAI AIRWAYS1
VOLARIS1
TURKISH AIRLINES1
VIVA AEROBUS1
SHENZHEN AIRLINES21
CONDOR1
CHINA SOUTHERN1
JETSTAR AIRWAYS1
HAINAN AIRLINES11
KLM1
SAUDIA1
AIR CANADA21
ITA AIRWAYS1
AEGEAN AIRLINES1
QANTAS1
BREEZE AIRWAYS3
ROYAL JORDANIAN1
LUFTHANSA CITY AIRLINES1
SAS1
AIR ARABIA1
COLORFUL GUIZHOU AIRLINES1
XIAMEN AIRLINES1
BRITISH AIRWAYS1
GULF AIR1
SICHUAN AIRLINES1
PEACH1
SPRING AIRLINES1
CEBU PACIFIC1
JETBLUE AIRWAYS3
Totals1011941

Slow but steady – The Airbus widebody segment continues to deliver

Maybe not as fast as you would hope and as many airlines probably hope, but the Airbus wide-body segment is finding a certain stability. It’s been up and down since the beginning of the year, and in the last two months it delivered seven (in April 2026) and eight (in May 2026) aircraft.

AirlineA330-900A350-900A350-1000
EMIRATES2
STARLUX AIRLINES1
PHILIPPINE AIRLINES1
AZUL1
SUNCLASS AIRLINES1
DELTA AIR LINES1
HAINAN AIRLINES1

Two notable entries in the table above regarding the wide-body Airbus deliveries for May of 2026.

The first is an unusual presence in this segment, which is Sunclass Airlines. That is a Danish charter operator which we don’t usually see in the delivery sheet all that often.

The second notable delivery is the A350-1000 handed over to Philippine Airlines. That is the second A350-1000 that the Filipino national carrier has taken delivery of since December of 2025.

Philippine Airlines receives the second A350-1000 of its fleet in Manila, NAIA.
Philippine Airlines takes delivery of its second A350-1000, which features the ultra-high density configuration with a 3-4-3 layout in economy class.

We’ll be seeing Philippine Airlines more in this space as the carrier expects to receive another seven Airbus A350-1000 in the coming months and years.

Next stop concerning Airbus is the quarterly results report, which will be coming out in about a month’s time, just around mid-July. See you all then.

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