Record orders for Seattle driven by 737 and 787 success
Amid its ongoing management crisis, Airbus has suffered a dramatic fall-off in sales for 2006, accumulating just 204 net orders during the first nine months of the year against a record 723 orders for its US rival.
Boeing's sizeable nine-month tally - 17% up on the same period in 2005, a year in which it saw record annual orders - has been driven by strong sales of its 737 and 787 families. The 747, which at one time was all but written off by Airbus, secured 41 orders of which 29 were for the new -8 family. In the third quarter alone, Boeing's 243 aircraft orders were more than double the 107 sales secured by Airbus.
Although the European airframer has traditionally trailed its rival in order terms until it declares its hand at year-end, the gulf between the two after the first three quarters of 2006 is much greater than last year, with Boeing having a 78% market share. Airbus's nine-month total is down 50% on the 407 net orders in the same period last year, and its 2006 figures are effectively being propped up by strong sales of the A320 family.
Although the A330 has had modest success, with 19 net orders, the same is not true of its four-engined sister. After a poor sales performance in 2005, Airbus has sold just three A340s this year (all -300s) - but due to cancellations and swaps, the quad's net order tally is zero for the year.
A350 sales are stalled on 13 for the year as Airbus works to define its revamped product line around the XWB concept announced at Farnborough in July. However, if launch approval for this new family is secured before year-end, Airbus should be able to squeeze some more firm contracts into its orderbook in the fourth quarter.
As has been the trend for the past four years, Airbus is ahead of its rival in output terms having shipped 320 aircraft between January and September against Boeing's 295.
However, the two companies' delivery numbers were almost identical in Q3, with Airbus handing over just one more aircraft than its rival (101 versus 100).
Airbus's low order intake has seen its backlog remain flat since the mid-year round-up at 2,061. Boeing, meanwhile, has grown its unfilled orders by 7% - further extending its market share lead by two percentage points to 52%.
Source: Flight International
