Airbus outselling Boeing

Airbus outsold Boeing almost two-to-one in 2011 after gambling on a revamped fuel-efficient jetliner and delivered more jets than its rival for the ninth year running, while admitting it may struggle to keep its order crown this year.Figures released by the European planemaker yesterday confirmed the popularity of narrow body jets offering significant fuel savings based on new engines available from mid-decade.

Airbus said it had won orders for 1,608 aircraft or a net total of 1,419 after cancellations, giving it a record market share of 64 per cent by volume or 54 to 56pc by value.The tally includes over 1,220 A320neos, a revamped 150-seat workhorse launched just over a year ago and which prompted Boeing to update its own best-selling jet as the 737 MAX.

Both manufacturers have decided to inject new life into the short-haul A320 and 737 models, their biggest cash cows. They are banking on demand for fuel savings to help airlines stay alive as oil prices remain unusually high through the downturn.

Airbus moved first, sweeping up an initial wave of orders in the largest segment of the industry, which is valued at $2 trillion over the next 20 years, but Boeing posted record sales of its larger and more expensive long-haul 777 mini-jumbo.Airbus confirmed it had delivered 534 aircraft in 2011. The 5pc rise from 2010 comes as both Airbus and Boeing plan further increases to meet demand from rising Asian economies.Between them, the world’s dominant airplane manufacturers made industry history by delivering more than 1,000 aircraft and taking orders for more than 2,500 in a single year as Asia’s growing wealth continued to outshine the bleak Western economy.”It was a tough year for the world economy but traffic is growing and the number of middle classes, by which I mean people with disposable incomes for things like air travel, will triple in the next 20 years,” said Airbus sales chief John Leahy.

source:GDN