Aircraft

Boeing has confirmed that it booked orders for more than 1,400 aircraft in 2007, easily surpassing its previous record set the previous year.

The manufacturer says in a statement that it booked 1,413 net orders in 2007, up from its previous record of 1,044 in 2006. It was its third consecutive record year for orders, starting with 1,002 in 2005.

Boeing says gross orders, not accounting for cancellations, amounted to 1,423 in 2007. It booked a record number of orders for its 737 and 787 programmes as well as a record number of freighter orders.

In total 80 customers ordered Boeing aircraft in 2007, a year which “told us that global demand for commercial airplanes remains strong and sustained”, says Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Scott Carson.

The 737 programme had its strongest sales year ever, with net orders of 846 aircraft, comfortably exceeding the previous record of 729 in 2006. The number of 787 orders booked also hit a record high, of 369.

For its other programmes, 21 747s were sold, as were 36 767s and 141 777s.

It is not yet clear whether Boeing again beat Airbus in the annual orders contest as Airbus’ figures are due to be revealed later this month. In November Airbus said it expected to exceed 1,200 orders for the year but in December it announced several new deals that took the figure well beyond that.

For 2006 Boeing beat Airbus with net orders for 1,044 aircraft, compared to its European rival’s 790.

Airbus had until 2007 claimed the sales record for any airframe manufacturer in a single year, of 1,111 set in 2005.