2023 was a remarkable year with record aircraft and engine orders as well as record aircraft and engine backlogs.
Last year there were orders for 3,850 large commercial jet aircraft and 6,684 large civil jet engines. Both are all-time annual records. These orders pushed the aircraft backlog to 15,743, just over 2,200 more than at the start of the year. The number of engines on firm order increased by over 3,900 during the year and there are now 29,740 engines on firm order. The aircraft and engine backlogs at the end of the year were the largest ever. Delivery numbers have improved to the extent that the 2023 total of 1,265 aircraft deliveries was the largest in a single year since 2018 but was still 353 aircraft fewer than in 2018.
The single-aisle aircraft backlog increased by 1,737 aircraft in 2023. The gain in 2022 was 479 aircraft.
By the end of 2022, the year-end widebody aircraft backlog had dropped every year since 2014 but in 2023 there was a gain of 481 aircraft so the current widebody backlog figure of 2,218 aircraft is the largest since January 2019 when there were just three more widebodies on backlog.
The total large commercial jet aircraft backlog at the end of 2023, 15,743 aircraft, is the largest it has ever been (not just at a year-end) and it is 2,218 aircraft larger than at the start of the year and 2,668 aircraft larger than at the end of December 2021.
The single-aisle aircraft order intake in 2023 was a new annual record. A total of 3,039 single-aisles were ordered during the year, 145 more than the previous annual record set in 2014.
The widebody aircraft order intake in 2023 was also a new annual record. A total of 811 widebodies were ordered during the year, 122 more than the previous annual record of 689 set in 2013.
There were orders for 225 widebodies in December, the largest number in a single month since December 2014.
A total of 351 aircraft orders were cancelled in 2023 which is the lowest annual number since 2018 when 275 aircraft orders were cancelled. The largest number of annual cancellations ever was 791, in 2020.
There were orders for 6,684 engines last year, the largest annual total ever. The previous annual record was 6,404 engines, set in 2017. Last year there were orders for 5,170 single-aisle engines which was not a record (5,856 were ordered in 2017). In addition, there were orders for 1,514 widebody engines which may be an annual record and is certainly the largest annual number in well over 10 years.
The number of engines on firm order increased by 3,922 in 2023 and the total number on firm order at the end of December was an all-time high.
The number of single-aisle engines on firm order grew by 3,022 last year and the number of widebody engines on firm order grew by 900.
There were 25,512 single-aisle engines on firm order at the end of 2023, an all-time record. There were also 4,228 widebody engines on firm order, the largest number since April 2019 when 4,272 were on firm order. The widebody engine order book record was 5,280 engines, in April 2015.