(Paris) Airbus delivered 71 commercial aircraft in October, which is an increase in pace compared to the previous two months, and received 119 orders, the European aircraft manufacturer announced on Tuesday, facing supply difficulties.

Since the start of the year, the industrial giant has delivered 559 aircraft, and it has two months left to reach the annual 720 promised to its customers, i.e. a monthly rate of just over 80 units.

October, however, marked a marked improvement from September’s 55 aircraft and August’s 52. Deliveries are a reliable indicator of profitability in aviation because airlines pay the majority of the bill when they take possession of the planes.

Airbus is engaged in a complex ramp-up, aiming to increase A320 production from 40 aircraft per month during the pandemic to 75 per month by 2026.

But these ambitions come up against bottlenecks among its suppliers. The engine manufacturer Safran, citing difficulties among “blacksmiths and foundries”, conceded on October 27 that it could not achieve its annual objective of delivering 1,700 LEAP engines, equipping around 60% of aircraft in the A320neo range, and would manage at a number 50 to 100 units lower.

Airlines are increasing orders to cope with the expected growth in their traffic and modernizing their fleets with aircraft that consume less fuel and therefore emit less CO2.

In fact, at the end of October, Airbus totaled 1,334 net orders since the start of the year, more than double its deliveries in the same interval, and much more than the entirety of 2022 (820) which was already the best vintage since 2017.

Orders in October were mainly from the American company United Airlines, for 60 single-aisle A321neo aircraft, and from Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, which signed for 32 aircraft, A320neo and A321neo, according to the Airbus summary.