Orders down but Airbus and Boeing set output record

A late flurry of deals has boosted Boeing's 2015 book-to-bill ratio to one as the US manufacturer and its rival Airbus look set to record around 2,000 net orders between them for the full year.

While the forecast sales tally is significantly behind 2014's 2,888 net orders, Airbus and Boeing are poised to report a new combined industry output record of 1,400 airliners for 2015. This would be an increase of almost 4% on the previous year.

Boeing booked 166 new sales in the week before the festive break, including 143 737 orders from unidentified customers. This raised its year-to-date total to 743 net orders with a week still to run. It will confirm its full-year tally on 7 January.

On course to ship around 760 aircraft in 2015, Boeing will achieve its target to maintain a book-to-bill ratio of around one for the year.

Airbus looks set to outgun its competitor in sales terms, having already passed 1,000 net orders at the end of November. The European manufacturer traditionally adds a significant number to its backlog in the final month of the year.

However, it trails Boeing significantly in shipments, with a full-year deficit of around 120 units likely. Airbus will declare its full-year results on 12 January.