European airframer closes order gap to Boeing after sales surge during October
Airbus's fightback in the 2006 orders race began in earnest last month, with the European airframer selling more aircraft in October than it had in the previous nine months. However, sales of Airbus's widebody models remain slow.
Airbus booked 282 orders last month, compared with 226 for the first nine months of the year, boosting its tally for the year to 508 aircraft. Until last month, Boeing had been dominating proceedings, booking 736 orders during the first three quarters. The US company secured 52 orders in October, meaning its advantage has considerably narrowed. At the end of the third quarter, Boeing's market share was 76%, but Airbus's strong October performance has reduced this to 61%.
In an interview published in the Seattle Times last week, Airbus's chief salesman John Leahy acknowledged that Boeing's sales had put Airbus in the shade this year, but claims he is "not in an order race" with his rival. "We've really been looking at the 40-60% market-share range. We want a duopoly that's stable," he says.
Over half of the Airbus orders in October - a total of 60 A320s, 50 A321s and 40 A319s - were placed on behalf of Chinese carriers by the state-run China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group. Another major order last month was by US start-up Skybus Airlines for 65 A319s.
But Airbus is still struggling to achieve a good balance across its product line, with all but five of the orders booked in October being for narrowbodies. This year, Airbus has sold just 41 widebodies, against 218 for its US rival.
Airbus's sales revival has continued apace in November, with it announcing orders for 97 aircraft so far this month.
Deals include 52 A319s for EasyJet, 37 A319/A320s and A330s for TAM, six A320s for Alafco and two A320s for Airblue.
These deals pushed Airbus's gross orders beyond 600 by mid-November, but over the same period Boeing's orders had increased to 829.
Source: Flight International
