Asian Tech Press (Oct 10) -- European aircraft manufacturer Airbus announced Monday that it has delivered 488 planes to 78 customers so far this year.

Since the beginning of the year, Airbus has received 1,280 total orders, excluding cancellations, the amount of actual orders being 1,241.

Airbus delivered 55 jets to 34 customers in September, including 10 additional A350s ordered by Turkish Airlines. And deliveries in August stood at 52 jets.

Airbus has had a relatively good year. According to Airbus' consolidated financial results for the first half of the year, by the end of June 2023, its order backlog amounted to a record 7,967 aircraft.

Airbus' first-half consolidated revenues rose 11% year-on-year to 27.7 billion euros, with 316 commercial aircraft delivered, including 25 A220s, 256 A320 Family, 14 A330s and 21 A350s.

The aircraft manufacturer forecasts that China will require more than 9,440 new passenger and cargo aircraft by 2042, accounting for 23% of the world's total demand for new planes over the same period. Over the next 20 years, the global market will see a need for more than 40,850 new aircraft.

Airbus SE is one of the world's largest aerospace and defence companies, with around 134,000 employees worldwide.