Order and delivery figures demonstrate that following a preceding record year, 2014 was another all-time high for commercial aviation.

Net orders in 2014

A total of 4,020 aircraft were ordered during the year while 489 cancellations and 90 swaps occurred. Overall, Airbus took in 1,784 new orders while Boeing received 1,538. ATR received 160 new orders while Bombardier and Embraer received 145 and 143 orders respectively.

Narrowbody orders totalled 2,789 where Airbus received 1,540, including 1,107 for the A320neo variant while Boeing took in 1,199, including 886 for the 737 Max. Canadian manufacturer Bombardier also received 61 orders for its CSeries. Widebody new orders came in at 594 with 244 for Airbus and 350 for Boeing while regional jet and turboprop orders totalled 241 and 306 respectively.

Lessor SMBC Aviation Capital stood out during 2014 with their orders of 115 A320 family aircraft, including 110 for the re-engined neo, and 80 737 Max aircraft. In July, Emirates ordered 150 Boeing 777X twin-engined aircraft, a deal originally disclosed at the 2013 Dubai air show. Low-cost carrier Ryanair ordered 105 737s, including 100 for the Max variant while China Aircraft Leasing placed orders for a total of 104 A320 family aircraft, of which 74 were for the neo variant.

The major cancellation of the year came from Emirates who cancelled its order for 70 A350s, comprising 50 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s.

Orders(2005-2014)

Commercial aircraft deliveries in 2014

A total of 1,729 commercial aircraft deliveries took place in 2014, representing an overall seven percent increase on the previous year. The year 2014 was the fourth record year in a row for the total of commercial aircraft deliveries and an all-time high for the narrowbody and widebody market groups. Deliveries included 954 narrowbody and 371 widebody aircraft. Regional jet and turboprop deliveries totalled 176 and 228 respectively.

Deliveries(2005-2014)

Boeing enjoyed a record year with 703 commercial aircraft delivered while Airbus also experienced an all-time high with 621 deliveries. Specifically, Boeing delivered 469 737s, 111 787s, 98 777s, 19 747s and six 767s. Airbus delivered 485 A320 family aircraft, 105 A330s, 30 A380s and a single A350. It was in fact a first delivery for the A350 type which was taken by launch customer Qatar Airways.

DelAirbusBoeing(2005-2014)

In the regional market, Embraer, Bombardier, Sukhoi and Antonov delivered 91, 53, 26 and six aircraft respectively. ATR delivered 81 commercial turboprops, another all-time high for the manufacturer two years running.

From an operator perspective, China Eastern Airlines took in 65 aircraft while American Airlines received 61. China Southern Airlines and Air China received 51 and 43 aircraft respectively. A share of 42% of the commercial aircraft deliveries were for operators based in Asia-Pacific, followed by North America and Europe with shares of 21% and 17% respectively.

Order backlog at 31 December 2014

Commercial order backlog figures have consistently been on the rise since 2009 and the record year of 2014 ended at 14,425 aircraft, representing a 14% increase on the previous year. Airbus totalled 6,373 while Boeing’s backlog stood at 5,752. Embraer, Comac, Bombardier and ATR showed figures of 459, 399, 335 and 285 aircraft respectively. All market groups actually showed an increase in backlog on the year before.

The A320 family tops the order backlog listing with 5,126 aircraft on order, including 3,610 for the neo variant, while the 737 follows with a figure of 4,278, including 2,659 for the re-engined Max. In the widebody market, the 787 leads with 835 aircraft on order followed by the A350 with 778. The MRJ, MS-21 and ARJ21 top the regional jet orders with backlog figures of 191, 175 and 124 respectively.

At the end of 2014, Indonesia’s Lion Air topped the backlog by operator listing with a total of 543 aircraft, including 273 737s, 227 A320 family aircraft, 40 ATR72s and three A330s. American Airlines and AirAsia followed with backlog figures of 419 and 309 respectively. In the leasing market, Air Lease Corporation and AerCap showed figures of 295 and 236 respectively.

Backlog(2005-2014)

Source: Cirium Dashboard