PARIS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft last year, surpassing its target of 720, the company said in a report published on Thursday.

       "Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft to 87 customers around the world in 2023, demonstrating strong performance despite a complex operating environment. The Commercial Aircraft business registered 2,319 gross new orders (2,094 net). As a result, its 2023 year end backlog stood at 8,598 aircraft," the group said.

       "We originally anticipated aviation to recover sometime in the 2023-2025 timeframe, but what we saw in 2023 was, alongside the single-aisle market, widebody return much sooner than expected, and with vigour," said Christian Scherer, newly appointed CEO of the group's commercial aircraft business.

       From 2020 to 2022, Airbus delivered 566, 611 and 661 commercial aircraft respectively, sharply down from 863 in 2019.

       2023 was marked by major order announcements for Airbus, notably at the Paris Air Show where more than 500 orders were placed, dominating its American rival Boeing.

       The market for Airbus' highly successful A320 Family has bounced back strongly from the days of the COVID pandemic, the company announced in December.

       In September, Airbus broke ground on its second final assembly line in north China's Tianjin Municipality to manufacture both A320 and A321neo aircraft, the newest single-aisle aircraft of Airbus, to meet surging demands.

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