PARIS: Airbus increased its deliveries in 2014, setting a new company record, a source at the European plane maker said yesterday.
The Airbus Group subsidiary beat its 2013 peak of 626 deliveries but is expected to remain behind rival Boeing, which is due to issue annual data later. The source also said the European company is expecting “one of the best years ever for Airbus” in orders, but it remained unclear whether this would be enough to close a gap with Boeing on winning new business in the first 11 months of the year.
In 2013, Airbus won a record of 1,503 net orders after adjusting for cancellations, but lagged on deliveries. An Airbus spokesman declined to comment on orders or deliveries ahead of an annual news conference on January 13.
Airbus is officially targeting “about the same” level of deliveries as in 2013 and is already guaranteed to reach its other objective of winning net orders that exceed deliveries.
Airbus delivered the first of its competing A350 jets last month and is expected to increase output sharply by 2018.
Deliveries are widely watched by investors since that is when planemakers get paid.
Some industry analysts are focusing in particular, this year, on whether Boeing can surpass Airbus in deliveries of profitable single-aisle jets for the first time since 2002.
Deliveries of the Boeing 737 medium-haul jets outpaced the Airbus A320 family between January and November, but December may have been an unusually busy month for Airbus.
Reuters
