2 min read - 30 Sep, 2025
Seven-year high for aircraft deliveries, ADS reveals
Commercial aircraft manufacturers delivered 118 aircraft in August 2025, reporting a near one-third increase compared to August 2024. According to ADS, this marks the highest number of aircraft deliveries for the month of August since 2018.
Data from the trade association for the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space industries also shows that 125 commercial aircraft orders were placed during August 2025, an 84% increase compared to the same month last year. This now brings the year-to-date aircraft order book to 1,325 aircraft, a near doubling compared to the first eight months of 2024, where 682 aircraft were placed on the order books.
The aircraft backlog now stands at 16,171 orders, equivalent to over 15 years’ worth of work for the UK’s aerospace supply chain, and up to £257bn in value to the UK economy at current production rates.
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Commercial aircraft deliveries made across the month of August have reached a seven-year high, according to the latest data from ADS / Picture: Getty/iStock/Jaroslaw Kilian
Year-end deliveries on track for record production ramp-up
With aircraft manufacturers focused on ramping up production, ADS has developed three growth scenarios for the number of individual aircraft that will be delivered globally by year-end.
Following the month of August, aircraft deliveries are now on track to meet ADS’s high growth scenario of 1,340 aircraft deliveries by the end of the year. This would mark a 20% increase compared to 2024, and the highest number of deliveries reported at year-end since 2018. ADS had also previously outlined medium and modest growth scenarios at 1,240 and 1,172 aircraft delivered by year-end, respectively.
Aimie Stone, chief economist at ADS, said: “August’s aircraft delivery figures show an encouraging sign that industry is beginning to operate at a stable and sustained pace. The challenge now is for industry to maintain this momentum.
“While we remain optimistic about the sector’s direction following the Industrial Strategy, regulatory hurdles and workforce shortages continue to constrain the industry’s ability to grow. The government must now seize this momentum as an opportunity to strengthen the UK’s supply chain and meet these challenges with urgency.”
