By James Doyle FRAeS

Airbus 2026 deliveries reached 547 in the first nine months, and the company kept its target of around 870 for the year on 28 October. To get there it must hand over 323 aircraft between October and December, 37 more than it managed in the last three months of 2025. In the same week AerCap sold 70 aircraft and other assets at a 45 per cent margin, and the UK put a £2.5bn framework behind a Rolls-Royce return to single-aisle engines.

Boston Warwick works with airlines, airports and aviation investors on flight operations, fleet valuations and mergers and acquisitions. Each week we set out the aviation stories that matter to them, with the source and date for every figure.

Airbus 2026 deliveries: 323 needed in the fourth quarter to reach 870

Airbus reported its nine-month results on 28 October 2026. It delivered 547 commercial aircraft between January and September, against 507 in the same period of 2025. They were 68 A220s, 428 A320 Family, 13 A330s and 38 A350s. Guidance for 2026 is unchanged at around 870 deliveries, adjusted EBIT (operating profit before one-off items) of around €7.5bn and FCF (cash generated after investment, before customer financing) of around €4.5bn.

Reaching 870 means 323 deliveries in the fourth quarter, an average of almost 108 a month. In 2025 Airbus delivered 793 aircraft, 286 of them in the fourth quarter, and 136 in December alone.

Airbus commercial aircraft deliveries, 2025 and 2026
YearJanuary to SeptemberOctober to December
2025 (actual, 793)507286
2026 (target around 870)547323 needed
Airbus commercial aircraft deliveries. 2025 figures are actual. The 2026 fourth-quarter figure is the number Airbus needs to reach its target of around 870.Source: Airbus nine-month 2026 results, 28 October 2026; Airbus 2025 deliveries, 12 January 2026; Boston Warwick calculation.

The slow third quarter shows in the accounts. Third-quarter revenue fell 2 per cent to €17.47bn, which Airbus put down mainly to fewer aircraft deliveries. FCF before customer financing for the nine months was minus €1.27bn, and Airbus said this reflected inventory built up for a delivery profile weighted towards the end of the year. On our arithmetic, meeting the €4.5bn full-year figure implies about €5.8bn of FCF in the fourth quarter alone.

Chief executive Guillaume Faury said there had been “no cancellations or requests for postponements” because of higher fuel prices, and that Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines “remain the pacing item” for the ramp-up, Aviation Week reported. “The delivery profile is back-loaded again, but the teams are fully mobilised for a year-end rally,” he said.

The longer-term targets are unchanged: A320 Family production of 70 to 75 a month by the end of 2027, the A220 at 13 a month and the A350 at 12 a month in 2028, and the A330 at 5 a month in 2029. Net orders for the nine months were 1,105, against 514 a year earlier, and the backlog stood at 9,310 aircraft at the end of September. For airlines expecting aircraft in December, any shortfall in the year-end push moves those deliveries into 2027, in the same month Boeing said 737 production will not hold at 47 a month until early 2027. We covered that in Boeing Q3 2026 Results: What Slower 737 Production Means.

Rolls-Royce and the UK’s £2.5bn single-aisle engine programme

The UK government and Rolls-Royce announced on 28 October 2026, Budget day, a jointly funded programme worth £2.5bn over 10 years for engine technology for single-aisle passenger aircraft and military aircraft. The government expects it to support 3,300 jobs by the end of 2029. Rolls-Royce estimates that a UK engine on single-aisle aircraft could add £120bn to the economy over the life of the programme.

The government’s own background note sets out the limits. The agreement is the framework under which future support will be provided. No new grants have been awarded through it yet, and any support still depends on agreed terms and on value-for-money, affordability and subsidy-control checks.

Rolls-Royce has had no engine on a single-aisle airliner since it sold its stake in International Aero Engines, maker of the V2500, to Pratt & Whitney in 2012. Today the Airbus A320neo family is powered by CFM’s LEAP or Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G, and the Boeing 737 MAX by the LEAP alone. For Rolls-Royce to sell engines in that market, Airbus or Boeing would have to offer its engine on a future aircraft, and neither has launched one.

AerCap’s record quarter and what aircraft sales say about values

AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, reported on 28 October 2026 GAAP net income of $949m, or $6.17 a share, for the third quarter, and record adjusted net income of $1,009m, or $6.56 a share. It raised its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to about $20.70 a share, a figure that leaves out any gains from fourth-quarter sales.

The sales figures are the useful part for anyone valuing aircraft. AerCap sold 70 owned assets for $1.1bn in the quarter, with $353m of gains, which it puts at an unlevered gain-on-sale margin of 45 per cent. A year earlier it sold 32 assets for $1.5bn at a gain of $332m. It bought 32 aircraft on capital spending of $1.9bn.

Basic lease rents were flat at $1,698m, against $1,690m a year earlier. Maintenance rents and other receipts rose 31 per cent to $267m. Lessors collect maintenance rents from airlines while engines and airframes wear, so a rise of that size reflects heavy engine use. ITOCHU’s purchase of a stake in Iberia’s new engine shop, covered in ITOCHU Buys a Stake in IAG Engine Tech, points the same way.

Chief executive Aengus Kelly said that “while higher fuel prices are impacting airline profitability, the fundamental supply-demand dynamics in commercial aviation remain favorable for AerCap”. AerCap bought back about $783m of shares in the quarter, taking 2026 repurchases past $2.2bn.

ANA Holdings to take full ownership of Airdo and Solaseed Air

ANA Holdings said on 29 October 2026 that it will take full ownership of RegionalPlus Wings, the holding company of Japanese airlines Airdo and Solaseed Air, through a share swap in April 2027. ANA already holds more than 15 per cent. The swap ratio will be agreed between the two companies.

Airdo, based in Sapporo, mainly flies to and from Hokkaido. Solaseed Air, based in Miyazaki, mainly serves Kyushu and Okinawa. Both already share codes with All Nippon Airways. ANA plans to keep both brands for now but is looking at flying them under the ANA brand in the medium term, and changes to schedules and frequencies could start as early as summer 2028. ANA said it wants to improve profits from its weak domestic business through joint flight operations and central purchasing.

The same day ANA reported record sales of ¥1.39trn for April to September, up 17.5 per cent, while net profit fell 11.8 per cent to ¥67bn, partly because of higher fuel costs.

Canada’s competition regulator opposes wider Air Canada and United coordination

In a report to the Minister of Transport published on 28 October 2026, Canada’s Competition Bureau concluded that a proposal from Air Canada and United Airlines to coordinate, including on prices, on 10 transborder routes would likely raise fares and cause “millions of dollars in consumer harm each year”. A 2012 consent agreement currently bars coordination on those routes.

The routes link Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver with Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington. The two airlines carry all non-stop passenger traffic on five of the 10. The Bureau found that barriers to entry are high and that other airlines would be unlikely to hold prices down. The Minister of Transport will make the decision as part of a public interest review.

Finnair starts flying to Australia and KLM flies its first A350

Finnair’s first scheduled flight to Australia, AY145, left Helsinki Airport, Finland (HEL/EFHK) at 01:15 local time on 25 October 2026, using Airbus A350-900 OH-LWO. The daily, year-round service stops for just under two hours at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (BKK/VTBS) and was scheduled to reach Melbourne Airport, Australia (MEL/YMML) at 07:20 local time on 26 October. Finnair also sells the Bangkok to Melbourne sector on its own. It said it chose Melbourne because demand there holds up all year.

KLM flew its first Airbus A350-900 passenger service on 30 October 2026, as KL691 from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands (AMS/EHAM) to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada (YYZ/CYYZ), with eight tonnes of cargo on board. The aircraft, PH-ZNA, is named De Nachtwacht (“The Night Watch”) and has 331 seats: 34 in World Business Class, 26 in Premium Comfort and 271 in Economy. KLM says Montreal, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Zanzibar will follow. The second aircraft, PH-ZNB, is expected in December.

What to watch next week

Lufthansa Group reports third-quarter results on 3 November. Airbus’s monthly delivery figures for October will be the first sign of how fast its fourth-quarter push is going. Transport Canada’s consultation on the Air Canada and United proposal closes on 15 November.

Frequently asked questions

How many aircraft has Airbus delivered in 2026?

Airbus delivered 547 commercial aircraft in the first nine months of 2026: 68 A220s, 428 A320 Family, 13 A330s and 38 A350s, according to its results of 28 October 2026.

How many deliveries does Airbus need in the fourth quarter of 2026?

Airbus targets around 870 deliveries in 2026, so it needs about 323 between October and December, almost 108 a month. In the fourth quarter of 2025 it delivered 286.

What is the UK and Rolls-Royce £2.5bn engine agreement?

It is a jointly funded 10-year programme, announced on 28 October 2026, for engine technology for single-aisle and military aircraft. The government says it is a framework for future support and that no new grants have been awarded under it yet.

Boston Warwick advises lessors, investors and airlines on aircraft and engine transactions, including fleet valuations and residual values. Our due diligence work covers aircraft and engine assets. Contact Boston Warwick to discuss what this week’s stories mean for your fleet or portfolio.

Sources