The industry's two heavyweights could be set for another record orderbook this year, as the Airbus and Boeing combined sales tally was approaching 1,700 at the end of the third quarter. Output could also be set to hit a new high this year, but it is neck-and-neck as the two protagonists head into the last quarter.
Boeing holds the lead in orders after nine months, as has become the tradition in recent years, with 893 net orders - around 100 more than its rival. This is up by 25% on the US airframer's total at the end of quarter three last year.
Airbus has had a far stronger first nine months than recent years, with its 791 orders being a fourfold increase on the 204 sales in the same period last year. The joint success has put the two companies' combined orders up by 80% compared with the first three quarters of 2006.
The full year order intake looks set to shoot past last year's 1,834 net sales, although it remains to be seen if it can reach the dizzy heights of 2005 when the all-time sales record of 2,057 was achieved.
Narrowbody sales remain the main driver, with the A320 family and 737 accounting for over 1,000 orders together. The strong-selling widebodies this year include the 787, 777 and A330, while Airbus is also beginning to rack up orders for the A350 XWB as it adjusts its orderbook with the renegotiation of contracts signed for the earlier version.
Deliveries across the Airbus and Boeing lines is expected to reach 900 units this year - a record for this century - and is now at around 660. The split between the two rivals is almost exactly 50/50, and it remains to be seen who will end the year ahead and whether the industry's all-time output record of 914 deliveries achieved in 1999 will be surpassed.
The combined order backlog has expanded beyond 6,000 aircraft - with Boeing holding a slim advantage at the nine-month mark. The A320 and 737 narrowbody families account for two-thirds of the total, while the 787 makes up a further 10%.
Source: Flight International
