AIRBUS has delivered its 3,500th aircraft, an A318 for Air France, coming 30 years after the organisation delivered its first-ever commercial aircraft, an A300. Up to the end of 1974, Airbus had delivered just five aircraft. By the end of 1984, 20 years ago, it had delivered 288. In parallel, Airbus has witnessed the number of operators of its aircraft rise substantially. By the end of 1974, Airbus had just three operators, but by 1984 it had 42. That figure had risen to 126 by 1994 and by the end of March 2004 Airbus had 209 operators of its aircraft. Out of the entire Airbus fleet in operation, 37% are in Europe, 30% in North America, 18% in the Far East, 7% in the Middle East, 6% in Latin America and just 2% in Africa.
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