Airbus delivered 74 commercial aircraft to 45 customers in October, taking its deliveries for the first ten months of 2026 to 621 jets, the European planemaker said.

The October handovers leave Airbus needing 249 more deliveries across November and December to reach its full-year target of roughly 870 aircraft. Deliveries so far this year are up 4% on the same period of 2025.

Gross orders for October reached 202 aircraft, lifting the year-to-date order intake to 1,376 — more than double the 777 orders recorded in the first ten months of 2025.

Spanish order boosts defence book

Spain has ordered 18 C295 military transport aircraft, Airbus announced, adding to a defence order book that has filled steadily through the autumn. France's procurement agency, the DGA, also qualified the vertical take-off and landing version of Airbus Helicopters' U010 Aliaca drone for service under a French Navy contract, with the first two systems already handed over in September.

Airbus said quality issues that slowed third-quarter deliveries have been cleared. A fuselage stringer problem on the A321 has been resolved, and inspected A330 aircraft have been cleared for delivery.

Investors took the updates in their stride. Airbus shares slipped 0.9% on Friday to close at €195.88, ending the session lower despite the order and delivery disclosures, as the wider market sell-off weighed on European stocks.

Airbus also won an order on 27 October to build two more second-generation Galileo navigation satellites, and signed a pilot-training agreement with India's Blue Angels Air, with the first cadets slated to begin in Tunisia in 2027.