Following a record-breaking year at arch rival Boeing, Airbus is also celebrating new milestones having delivered 800 commercial aircraft to 93 customers in 2018.

The news means the European manufacturer meet its full year delivery guidance and set a new company record.

Deliveries were 11 per cent higher than the previous record of 718 units, set in 2017.

For the 16th year in a row now, Airbus has increased the number of commercial aircraft deliveries on an annual basis.

In total, the 2018 commercial aircraft deliveries comprised of 22 A220s, 626 A320 family planes, 49 A330s, 93 A350 XWBs and 12 A380s.

In terms of sales, Airbus achieved 747 net orders during 2018 compared with 1,109 net orders in 2017.

At the end of 2018, the backlog of Airbus commercial aircraft reached a new industry record and stood at 7,577 aircraft, including 480 A220s, compared with 7,265 at the end of 2017.

“Despite significant operational challenges, Airbus continued its production ramp-up and delivered a record number of aircraft in 2018.

“I salute our teams around the globe who worked until the end of the year to meet our commitments,” said Guillaume Faury, president Airbus Commercial Aircraft.

“I am equally pleased about the healthy order intake as it shows the underlying strength of the commercial aircraft market and the trust our customers are placing in us.

“My gratitude goes out to all of them for their ongoing support,” he added.

“As we look to further increase our industrial efficiency, we will continue making the digitalisation of our business a key priority.”

Over the last 16 years, Airbus has steadily increased its production year-by-year with the final assembly lines in Hamburg, Toulouse, Tianjin and Mobile complemented by the addition of the A220 line in Mirabel, Canada, during 2018.

A notable contribution to Airbus’ delivery increase in 2018 came from the final assembly lines in the US and China.

Airbus will report full year financial results for 2018 on Valentine’s Day.