Aircraft orders still lagging behind despite UK airlines hitting 2024 high

The number of aircrafts being ordered by UK airlines hit its highest monthly figure in July as a slew of deals at the Farnborough Airshow helped the industry weather wider supply chain issues.

Some 131 orders were placed over the month, outpacing every other month in 2024 and representing the largest July delivery rate on record.

The figure marked a 17 per cent year-on-year rise and was driven by an increase in single-aisle arcraft orders, which rose 46 per cent on July 2023.

Despite the bumper month, year to date aircraft orders still sit two thirds below the same period last year, at 620.

The world’s two largest plane-makers, Airbus and Boeing, are grappling with ongoing supply chain issues stemming from a shortage of workers caused by the pandemic.

The bottleneck is expected to take years to resolve and has caused significant delivery delays at a time when demand for travel is booming.

It was an issue that overshadowed this year’s Farnborough Airshow, which concluded with 260 firm commercial aircraft orders worth around £80bn.

“Complications within the supply chain, coupled with regulatory uncertainty, continue to impact appetite for new aircraft,” Aimie Stone, chief economist at ADS Group, said.

“Despite this, and a healthy order backlog, it is reassuring to see industry continue to ramp up production to reach record breaking delivery heights in July.”

The sector’s order backlog is currently eight per cent higher than last year at 15,674 aircraft, equivalent to around a decades more work at current production rates.

That also equates to near £250bn contribution to the UK economy, according to ADS Group estimates.

Stone urged the government to “reconfirm its commitment to a coherent industrial strategy” in order to support growth and tap into “this significant potential addition to the UK economy.