Airbus struggles to fulfill plane orders, faces delay

December 30, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Aerospace giant Airbus will end the year with an order backlog of roughly 8,700 aircraft, a delay that would heavily impact countries reliant on their jets, such as the Philippines.

Based on an analysis from the Centre for Aviation (CAPA), Airbus has delivered 656 aircraft as of November, of which 586 are single-aisle units and 70 are widebody jets.

One in three Airbus deliveries were handed over to airlines in Asia Pacific, including the Philippines, where carriers are heavily dependent on the France-based manufacturer.

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific – the largest in the Philippines – operates 98 aircraft as of the third quarter, of which 72 are produced by Airbus. Cebu Pacific also placed a $24-billion order for up to 152 jets from Airbus to prepare for future expansion.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), meanwhile, manages 88 aircraft in its fleet, with 58 units from Airbus. PAL received the first of nine A350-1000s it purchased from Airbus this month, marking a new era in long-range operations.

In spite of this, PAL is waiting for the production of more jets from Airbus, including 13 A321s that are scheduled for delivery from 2026 to 2029.

Airbus had entered the year with hopes it would deliver 820 aircraft, but had to slash it to 790 on production issues with some suppliers of crucial parts.

CAPA said it might be challenging for Airbus to achieve the revised target, as it has to turn over more than 130 jets to customers before the year ends.

It warned that these struggles by Airbus could prohibit airlines in raising their capacity. As such, carriers would have to wait longer before they start receiving orders at a quicker pace, leaving expansion efforts hanging in the balance.

“Airbus’ backlog is more than 8,700 aircraft, which represents more than 10 years of output. Yet production ramp-ups are slow, and the sector continues to experience unacceptable interruptions and delays,” CAPA said.

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