Boeing secured a late order for 25 787s in December, pushing net bookings for the twinjet into positive for the year.

The order data from Boeing shows that the new order is entirely for 787-9s, but no engine selection is given.

Boeing has not identified the customer.

Air France-KLM had planned to finalise an order for 25 787-9s around the end of 2011, as part of a broader acquisition which includes 25 Airbus A350-900s.

The carrier group would not comment on whether it was the customer behind the 787 order, and neither Air France-KLM nor Airbus would indicate whether a corresponding order for A350s had been finalised.

Boeing gained orders for 45 787s, all in the last six weeks of 2011. The remaining 20 comprised 10 for Etihad Airways, four for Air Lease and six for Oman Air - although the Omani aircraft are being transferred from a previous order by Kuwaiti lessor ALAFCO.

Nevertheless, in the wake of 32 cancellations, the agreements lifted the 787 out of negative net orders for 2011, and took the overall total order count for the type to 860.

These 860 airframes comprise 555 of the 787-8 variant and 305 of the larger 787-9.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news