How many Lancasters were built?

Short answer

Avro Lancaster production totals add up to 7,377 aircraft. Of those, 430 were Mk X built in Canada, including six conversions to Lancastrian transports. The Canadian prototype, KB700, left the Victory Aircraft assembly line on 1 August 1943.

Published: November 4, 2026 · Updated: November 4, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Lancaster B Mk I R5852 of No. 83 Squadron in flight over Lincolnshire, June 1942

A production run of more than seven thousand aircraft

Avro Lancaster production totals add up to 7,377 aircraft. The bomber originates from the twin-engined Avro Manchester, from which it was developed as an evolution, and was designed by Roy Chadwick. In its operational career, the type flew 156,000 sorties and delivered 608,612 long tons (618,378,000 kg) of bombs.

The Canadian contribution

In Canada, the Malton plant received a contract on 18 September 1941 to build the Avro Lancaster Mk X heavy bomber. 430 Lancaster Mk X were completed, six of them converted into Lancastrian transports. The Canadian prototype, serial number KB700, left the Victory Aircraft assembly line on 1 August 1943. Lancaster production at Victory Aircraft reached a rate of one aircraft a day.

The Malton plant's tally

By the end of the war, the Malton plant had built a total of 3,629 Avro aircraft, of which 3,197 were Ansons. The Manchester, the twin-engined aircraft from which the Lancaster came, had given trouble in service and was withdrawn in 1942.