Aircraft

Airbus has won the race for total civil aircraft orders for the fifth year running against rival Boeing.

Airbus recorded a net figure of 1,055 orders in 2005, beating Boeing's net order total of 1,002 by 53 aircraft . In gross terms, Boeing is still behind Airbus, with 1,029 against 1,111 aircraft.

The US manufacturer disclosed its final year end tally earlier this month and many had expected it to have beaten Airbus for the first time since 2000. At the end of November Airbus still had booked only 687 orders. However, the European manufacturer revealed in Paris today that it had closed the gap by finalising several key deals during the final month of 2005.

The final figures give Airbus a 52% market share in the large mainline airliner market, down from 57.4% last year.
However, both manufacturers can claim victory, since the combined gross order tally for the two airframers is, at 2,140, the largest in history, beating the 1989 total of 1,631.