Airbus Delivers 12,000th Aircraft!

Airbus has celebrated delivery of its 12,000th aircraft, a very special moment in the 50-year history of the European aircraft manufacturer.

The aircraft, an Airbus A220-100, was assembled in Mirabel, Canada and handed over to U.S.-based Delta Air Lines.

The aircraft is the 12th A220 delivered to date to Delta Air Lines since the carrier received its first A220 in October 2018.

The A220, formerly the Bombardier C Series, started scheduled service with Delta in February 2019.

Delta is not only the first U.S. airline to operate the hugely popular A220, but it is also the largest A220 customer, with a firm order for 90 aircraft.

This milestone delivery of a Canadian-made Airbus aircraft to a U.S.-based airline highlights the growing presence of Airbus in North America. Since Airbus’ leadership of the A220 programme became effective on 1 July 2018, ground was broken in January this year in Mobile, Alabama for the construction of a second A220 final assembly line, set to start deliveries to U.S. customers in 2020.

Airbus delivered its first aircraft, an A300B2 to Air France, back in 1974. Fast forward to 2010, Airbus handed over its 6,000th aircraft, 36 years after its first. The pace continued to accelerate, taking Airbus just nine years to double that number, reaching 12,000th Airbus aircraft delivery on 20 May 2019.

To put this amazing achievement into some sort of perspective, how many years do 12,000 days make? 32.8767 if you divide by 365. That's one aircraft delivery every day for almost 33 years. Wow!

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