Airbus took the lion's share of orders for aircraft over 100 seats in the first half of this year, but the net tally, including Boeing's, was almost a third down on the same period in 2000. Boeing led the way on output, with the two's combined deliveries up 10%.
The slowdown in order intake is no surprise, but the rivals' gross total of 479 orders was hit by almost 100 cancellations. These were split almost equally between the two manufacturers, and were largely the result of orderbook adjustments following TWA's take-over by American Airlines. Northwest's big fleet re-equipment order for Airbus A330-200s and Boeing 757-300s also came at the cost of cancellations of earlier orders - four A330-300s and 20 757-300s.
As usual, the Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies were the big sellers, with the A320 and 737 families achieving 159 and 82 orders respectively. Airbus has begun to land high-value A380 sales as launch customers such as Air France, International Lease Finance, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic firmed up commitments. Thirty eight of the 60-plus orders were confirmed by the end of June and since then Singapore Airlines has firmed up its order for a further 10.
Boeing 717 sales continue to be slow with the five new orders placed countered by TWA's 20 cancellations. Airbus will also be looking to improve the sales fortunes of the A340, which failed to attract any orders during the period.
Both companies agree that total orders will be down for the whole year, with sales expected to be in the 800 unit range - around 400 each - compared to 2000's tally of over 1,100 aircraft.
Boeing's ramp-up continues apace with 263 deliveries compared with Airbus' 162 for a total of 425 aircraft. Boeing's total, including the last two former McDonnell Douglas aircraft (two MD-11Fs for Lufthansa Cargo), puts it on target for 530 aircraft over the full year. Airbus meanwhile is on the way to its own record, with over 330 aircraft due be delivered this year as production ramps up towards 2002's 400-aircraft target.
Boeing's high output level compared to its order intake has seen its backlog shrink further, to 1,481 aircraft, while the Airbus total of 1,714 aircraft gives it a 53% share. The overall backlog, at 3,195 aircraft, has begun to fall as the order slowdown and cancellations bite.
| JET AIRLINER ORDERS, DELIVERIES AND BACKLOG - FIRST HALF 2001 | ||||||
| Jan-June 2001 | ||||||
| Airbus | Deliveries | Orders | Cancelled | Net Orders | Backlog | |
| A300-600 | 5 | 58 | 0 | 58 | 78 | |
| A310-300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| A318 | 0 | 0 | -25 | -25 | 136 | |
| A319 | 36 | 41 | -32 | 9 | 356 | |
| A320 | 59 | 91 | 16 | 107 | 583 | |
| A321 | 31 | 27 | -4 | 23 | 198 | |
| A330 | 22 | 44 | -4 | 40 | 210 | |
| A340 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 | |
| A380 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 38 | 38 | |
| Total | 162 | 299 | -49 | 250 | 1714 | |
| Boeing (7 series) | ||||||
| 717 | 24 | 5 | -20 | -15 | 68 | |
| 737-6/7/8/9 | 145 | 82 | -3 | 79 | 950 | |
| 747 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 74 | |
| 757 | 20 | 41 | -21 | 20 | 79 | |
| 767 | 23 | 24 | -4 | 20 | 81 | |
| 777 | 33 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 229 | |
| Total | 261 | 180 | -48 | 132 | 1481 | |
| McDonnell Douglas types | ||||||
| MD-11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Boeing/MDC | ||||||
| Total | 263 | 180 | -48 | 132 | 1481 | |
| TOTAL | 425 | 479 | -97 | 382 | 3195 | |
| NOTES: Cancellations may be positive where an order has been converted from one aircraft to another, but no new order has taken place. Source: Airbus/Boeing | ||||||
Source: Flight International
