Business | Aviation
Airbus top planemaker for sixth year
Airbus held on to the top spot in global jetliner production for the sixth year running in 2008 with a seven per cent rise in deliveries to a record 483 planes, the European planemaker said.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:51 January 15, 2009
Toulouse, France: Airbus held on to the top spot in global jetliner production for the sixth year running in 2008 with a seven per cent rise in deliveries to a record 483 planes, the European planemaker said.
In a widely expected shift, Airbus also confirmed it had outsold Boeing in 2008 with net orders for 777 planes, down 42 per cent from the previous year, though figures from both planemakers show the economy halting a three-year aviation boom.
Airbus sold planes worth $100 billion in 2008, giving it a market share of 54 percent and lifting its backlog to 3,715 jets- just one more than rival Boeing, whose sales had been expected to cool after it smashed an industry record in 2007.
Unadjusted Airbus orders before cancellations or conversions between its various models reached 900 planes in 2008.
Asked if Airbus was profitable last year, Chief Executive Tom Enders said: "I would say so, yes."
The company is due to give full results data in March.
Boeing's 2008 production was hit by a 58-day machinists' strike with deliveries falling 15 per cent to 375 planes. Boeing sold 662 aircraft, down 53 percent, it said last week.
The latest figures mean global large jetliner production controlled by the two companies fell four per cent to 858 planes last year. But analysts say steeper falls may be necessary as airlines cancel or defer orders to cope with the financial rout.
Enders predicted Airbus will sell fewer planes than it delivers this year - the first time either big jetmaker has failed to replenish its backlog since 2003.
The CEO told reporters he expected the level of deliveries to be in the "same ballpark" as the 2008 record, but said Airbus had drawn up contingency plans to cut output if necessary.
"Due to economic difficulties, it is more difficult than ever to predict the order intake, but I estimate the book-to-bill [order to delivery] ratio will be below 1 in 2009."
These combined remarks suggest orders will fall by at least 38 percent in 2009, a year Airbus called "very challenging".
Airbus officially cut its A380 superjumbo delivery forecast for 2009 to 18 planes, Enders said, after recently warning it would miss its previous target of 21 by a "couple" of planes.
The planemaker announced that Air Austral had made provisional orders for two A380s in a single-class configuration.
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