A year of hallmarks for Boeing, but Airbus still wins the delivery race; both celebrate ’7000′ milestones

Last year saw a slight improvement in output at Boeing, which managed to deliver 15 aircraft more than in 2010. Even so, the manufacturer was not quite able to match its European counterpart. Airbus would have won the race even if delivering only one single aircraft in December. The European competitor ended the year with 534 aircraft delivered, an increase of 25 units as compared with 2010.

Interestingly, the discrepancies between the two companies appear to have diminished with regard to wide-body aircraft output, with Boeing getting back in shape following earlier manufacturing troubles and now delivering 787 aircraft. Across the pond, Airbus worked hard to curb up its A380 output and both Korean Air and China Southern have joined the decreasingly exclusive A380 club.

In terms of narrow-bodies, Airbus continues to outpace Boeing, this time by 57 units. This is despite Boeing passing the 7,000-mark in all-time 737 history, which is an imposing number for the younger Airbus, which around the same time reached this amount with regard to its overall output.

For Airbus, November was without a doubt the most productive month for Airbus with a total of 59 units delivered. 45 single-aisle aircraft left the production line, leaving Boeing far behind with only 27 narrow-body units delivered in the same period. Airbus topped the cake with three A380s; Emirates, Korean Air and Qantas having received one each.

Notably, Alitalia received three A319s, which brings the carrier closer to its vow of renewing the whole of its fleet by the end of 2012. The airline also expects a mix of short and long haul aircraft from Embraer and Boeing to join its fleet during 2012.

Another carrier to advance in its fleet renewal effort in November was Uzbekistan Airlines. The airline has received its fourth A320 this year, bringing the total operated by the airline to 10 units.

In December, Airbus fell short of the previous month’s production by two units, although there was a significant year-on-year improvement of eight additional aircraft. Significantly, the European manufacturer stepped up the A380 output, achieving a new monthly high of four aircraft. Two superjumbos were delivered to Emirates, while Qantas and China Southern received one each. In addition, the latter airline received further two A320s.

A total of 44 narrow-bodies were produced in December, inclusive of the 7000th aircraft ever, which was delivered to US Airways. This airline was also the recipient of the largest number of aircraft in December as a total of five A321s entered service.

The total number of aircraft delivered by Boeing in November falls far behind Airbus in any category – fewer single-aisle aircraft, fewer widebodies and a much narrower customer base (21 airline customers in November, as compared with 41 for Airbus) all resulted in a 20-unit difference for the period.

After becoming the first Central Asian carrier to operate the 737-900ER with the Sky Interior two months beforehand, Tadzhikistan’s Somon Air received a second aircraft of same parameters in November.

Shenzhen Airlines received further two 737-800s, bringing the total received by the airline this year up to ten. This significantly advances Boeing to fulfilling the order of 26 737 aircraft, which the Chinese airline placed back in 2005. Shenzhen Airlines is set receive the last six aircraft in 2012.

At 51 units, Boeing delivered more aircraft than Airbus in December and improved its own performance by 9 units year on year. However, the company had a significantly narrower customer base with 20 unique airline recipients, as opposed to 38 served by Airbus.

In late December, flydubai received its 21st aircraft, which turned out to be Boeing’s 7000th 737 ever. “We are proud to be the recipient of the 737, officially the most commercially successful model ever designed” said flydubai’s CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith. In Europe, Ryanair has taken eight new 737 aircraft, but the airline’s order book with Boeing is soon coming to an end. A total of 37 737s was taken into service this year by the Irish company.
Boeing closed the year with a significant improvement of its widebody output. The 2010 total of 86 units was replaced with a much higher result of 104. Nevertheless, the production gap in respect to narrow-bodies has widened and at 48, is now almost the double of last year’s discrepancy.