Boeing delivers record number of aircraft in 2015: Slips on new orders to Airbus

Boeing has outpaced its rival Airbus in terms of the number of aircraft delivered in 2015. The American aircraft maker sealed its position as the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer by delivering a record 762 planes in 2015. Boeing's deliveries for 2015 beat its previous record of 723 in 2014.

The figure also surpassed Boeing's own forecast of delivering 755 to 760 aircraft. Its main competitor, Airbus, will be unveiling its numbers soon. But the delivery figures are unlikely to be more than the 629 aircraft it deilvered in 2014, reports BBC.

In 2015, the US plane manufacturer delivered 120 of its 737s in the last three months, missing the target production rate of 42 per month.

Despite Boeing's record deliveries, there is concern over the fall in new orders, which crashed by half in 2015. Most of the airline firms, especially the fastest growing carriers in the Middle East and Asia have been on a spending spree. But they all cut back on new orders in 2015.

To speed up delivery, Boeing ramped up production of aircraft by 60 percent over the past five years. The production of 787 Dreamliner, built largely with lightweight composite materials, will rise from the current rate of 10 a month to 14 per month by 2020, Boeing said.

The company also added that the new orders for its commercial aircraft fell to 768 in 2015 from 1,432 in 2014. As of Dec. 31, Boeing's backlog of orders stood at 5,795, which can run production for more than seven and a half years at the current rate.

A 320 advantage

For Airbus, as of November 30, it booked 1,007 orders on the back of its fastest selling A320, which is dominating the medium-range market. The golden year was 2013 when Airbus had an industry record of 1,503 orders.

Meanwhile, Boeing has forecast 2015 revenues for its Commercial Airplanes division to be in the range of US$65-US$66 billion (approx. AU$94 billion), up from US$60 billion (AU$86 billion) of 2014, reports AFP.

In the aircraft industry, deliveries are a closely watched indicator as they are paid-for orders. Meanwhile, C919-- China’s answer to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 will conduct its first test flight in 2016. Being built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the double-engine airliner had a November roll out in Shanghai.