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Global commercial aircraft deliveries reached a total of just over 500 units during the 2025 Q4, bringing the year’s total to more than 1,500 aircraft; a 20% increase compared to 2024.
In Q4, Airbus delivered 285 aircraft, while Boeing shipped slightly over 150 units. For the full year, Airbus made 791 deliveries, reflecting a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 4%. Boeing delivered 578 commercial aircraft, a 73% YoY growth.
Compared to pre-pandemic performance in 2019, Airbus' annual deliveries in 2025 were 8% lower, while Boeing's deliveries surged 71% above 2019 levels.
Additionally, Embraer delivered 78 commercial jets in 2025, representing a 7% YoY increase.
Firm orders for Airbus in December totaled 201 units while Boeing took in 165 new orders.
Gross commercial firm annual orders for Airbus in 2025 totaled just under 1,000 units, a YoY increase of 14%. But Airbus also revealed that more than 100 aircraft were cancelled during the year, bringing the net orders to just under 900 units. Boeing’s gross order came to 1,150 units in 2025, more than doubling its order intake performance of 2024.
In December alone, Air China placed an order for 60 Airbus A321neos, while lessor China Aircraft Leasing Group ordered 30 A320neos. Qantas ordered 20 A321neos during the month while Air Europa Lineas Aereas ordered 20 Airbus A350s.
Boeing received an order from Alaska Airlines for 105 737 MAXs plus five 787s. Alaska Air Group expects to grow its fleet to more than 475 aircraft by 2030, and more than 550 by 2035 compared 413 aircraft today. Also in December, Boeing received an order from Ethiopian Airlines Group for 11 MAXs.
RPK data for the September-November period show a positive YoY change for flights departing all regions, apart from the departures from China where a negative 3% is shown. Meanwhile, ASK data for the same period indicates a positive change for all regions, including China. This difference indicates that while availability has been on the rise, demand has decreased slightly. However, that metric, which includes all carriers departing from China, isn’t representative of the leading Chinese carriers that displayed constant YoY increases during the year.
The Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families both experienced consistently higher utilization in 2025 compared to 2024 as reported in Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization. The utilization data reveals that each narrowbody family flew more hours globally in every month of 2025 compared to the same periods in the previous year. The annual total for all A320s showed a 5% increase over 2024, while the 737 family’s utilization grew by 3% YoY. In terms of flight cycles, the A320 recorded 14.2 million cycles, reflecting a 4% YoY growth, while the 737 achieved 11.1 million cycles, marking a 2% increase.
When analyzing the average utilization per cycle, each aircraft family flew longer journeys in 2025 compared to 2024. The A320 and 737 recorded an average journey time per cycle of just over two hours during the periods. Additionally, the data indicate that the 737 consistently operates slightly longer average flight times compared to the A320. By the end of December, the in-service fleet of A320s stood at just over 10,800 units, while the 737 family totaled more than 9,200. Both families saw a 4% increase in fleet size compared to December 2024.
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