Boeing and Airbus Orders 2016 December 2016

Boeing is beating Airbus in the annual PR race for orders so far in 2016. By the end of November it had achieved net sales of 466 aircraft (after allowing for cancellations and conversions) down from 1,432 for the whole of 2015 compared with the Toulouse-based manufacturer’s 403 (two fifths previous year total 1,063). Industry net orders we estimated will have totalled less than 1,000 in the year, down from the peak of 3,748 in 2014 and 2,262 in 2015.

In the narrowbody segment each had one chunky order: Vietjet ordered 100 737 MAX from Boeing and Airbus landed an order for 100 A320s from AirAsia. In the widebodies Boeing achieved an order from Qatar for 30 787s, while Airbus registered an order from China Eastern for 20 A350s. The lessors were notably absent from this year’s race (unless they are hidden among the undisclosed customers).

On deliveries up to the end of November Boeing also outshone Airbus with an overall production of 681 aircraft against 577. On narrowbodies the two were relatively evenly matched delivering 450 737s and 469 A320s respectively (equivalent to around 40 aircraft a month each), but the 787 continues to fly out the door at the rate of 11.5 aircraft a month.