A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 and Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 – Photo: David Parker Brown
2013 is now well in our rear view mirrors as we speed along the runway of another year and it is time to look back. We have covered what we did during 2013 on AirlineReporter but what about looking at what our two favorite aircraft manufacturers did? 2013 were big years for both Boeing & Airbus on many levels, so let’s take a look at more detail of exactly what happened in the order & delivery world:
Orders:
In 2013, the big air shows in Paris & Dubai flooded the order books of both manufacturers. Airbus and Boeing both had record-breaking years with 1,619 & 1,531 gross orders, respectively. The winner in this situation is obviously Airbus by a good margin; the types of orders look consistent too:
2013 orders – Boeing vs Airbus
Both Boeing & Airbus had very close years in the narrow body market. The Boeing 737 family netted 1,208 orders versus 1,253 for its Airbus rival. You could endlessly breakdown all that data but only Airbus provided an “official” accounting of CEO (Current Engine Option) vs NEO (New Engine Option) orders of 377 & 876, respectively (though from figures I managed to collate, the 737 MAX had approximately 700 orders,giving the unofficial narrow body win to Airbus).
The wide body order news was dominated towards the end of the year by official launch of the 777X-series at the Dubai Airshow, with a record for the most orders of a twin-aisle aircraft at launch. What a way to start the program off!
Boeing saw orders for the stretched 787-10 as well, with a number of 787 operators selecting the larger aircraft.
Deliveries:
Boeing & Airbus had record-setting delivery figures in 2013, with 648 and 626 respectively. Not a big margin between the two, but again it is the narrow body figures that dominate production levels. Airbus maintained an output of approximately 42 A320-family aircraft per month to deliver a total of 493 aircraft, while Boeing produced 440 737-family aircraft equating to approximately 37 per month (an astonishing level if you have ever been inside the Renton factory).
2013 deliveries broken down for Airbus vs Boeing
Looking at those figures, they look pretty similar, but it is the wide body figures where you see the real differences between the two manufacturers.
Boeing put out 208 wide body aircraft compared to Airbus’s 133, quite a major difference. Boeing’s figures can be further broken down by program, with the 777 dominating at 98 deliveries, followed closely by the 787 at 65. The 767 and 747 round out the delivery books with 21 & 24 respectively. Though Boeing’s win in this situation may look narrow overall, when you break down those figures there seems a very large gap in the wide body side of things.
A funky little infographic looking back at Airbus’s 2013 – Image: Airbus
2014 promises to be a great year for both manufacturers. With deliveries to begin from both the Airbus A350XWB & the Boeing 787-9, it is obvious where the attention is going to be. But we should also see further ramp up in production of the 737 and some of the first pieces for the 737 MAX to arrive.
It is hard to tell what will happen on the order front in 2014, with the airshows starting later in the year with Singapore and then Farnborough. Will the 777X order record continue now that the aircraft has a new home in Everett, and will the first delivery of the A350XWB spur additional orders? Only time will tell!
Hi Malcom,
genuine thanks for the article.
However, (with Airbus) 493/12= approximately 41 NOT 42 !!!
With Boeing you got the figures rite..
And what about price value comparison in wide body segment?
Seems to me that gap would be even wider and would only increase with the demise of A330 and approaching entry of 777X.
Seems to me that the big mouth of John works.
Best regards Joe
That figure depends how you do your rounding. I always round up but the exact figure is 41.083 (how you get .083 of an aircraft though is up to you!)
Orders are nice but it’s really about deliveries. For 2012, EADS net profit was $1.59B while Boeing’s was $3.9B. That disparity rarely gets mentioned in all the various Airbus vs. Boeing articles. A big reason for that is deliveries of wide bodies which have a higher profit margin. With the 777 cash cow chugging along and the 787 hitting stride this year, I would expect Boeing to take the delivery crown this year. I’m not sure if Airbus or Boeing really make much from selling single aisles and it looks like the A380 break even will be pushed back once again. The A350 will not figure in 2014’s tally. And now it’s open to speculation whether Airbus will ever build the smallest model. Another item of interest is Boeing looking at building a 757 replacement…hedging its bets against others coming into the single aisle market? P.S. Not sure the demise of the A330 is imminent. It’s a popular aircraft.
perhaps it may be worth a look at the type of aircraft produced by Boeing compared to Airbus Group (EADS rebrand), as to a possible reason for the disparity. where as Airbus Group focus on mainly larger “commercial airliners” as well as some military transport, Boeing as a group manufacture not only “commercial airliners”, but military “fighter type” aircraft, as well as military transport. Also the USA has the Largest defence budget in the world, and good old american patriotism they tend to solely buy US made aircraft. compare this to European countries defence budgets and we Europeans seem quite underfunded/reserved in our spending (especially in the UK). not an expert and feel free to poke holes in my ramblings 🙂
747 is better than a380 everyone knows about 747s but only enthusiast know about the a380
757 replacement? – 737’s no a days are longer/bigger and hold either the same or more passengers and fly the same if not longer distance than the 757 – which is why Boeing stopped making them.
the A350 – is like a slightly smaller to same size version of the current 777’s flying. A340 production as stopped because it is not economic. comparatively a 747 is better than an a340….. and even i would go as far as to say its better than the a380. only reason any airline companies bought a380 is to please its passengers with the whole gimmick of “the largest” airline aircraft. and the only reason airbus garnishes “more” sales than Boeing? Because their aircraft is substantially cheaper – and i dont mean the “list” prices you can see on their websites or wikipedia etc. What happens during the actual deals in that airbus undercuts boeing as much as it can hence the only reason they win. i have flown on all boeing types from 717/md80 – 777 and compartively on all the airbus models and hands down i prefer the boeing.
I have to agree that Boeing is a superior product. Without heavy EU government subsidies, Airbus would not exist. The A-400M is a prime example, it over budget, years behind schedule, it’s too heavy, and it would not exist if not for huge EU subsidies. I will go one further; the countries that have purchased the A-330 MRTT over Boeing 767 based tanker are going to regret it. The A-330 is expensive to operate and maintain, plus it is not as economically viable as the B-767 based tanker. You get what you pay for and the EU subsidizes Airbus to the point it could not exist with out them. AMERICAN made Boeing is and always will be superior to the inferior and over subsidized Airbus products.
What about the NASA, US Military,Export-Import Bank of the United States (known as ”Boeing’s Bank”) subsidies. so far Airbus Groups subsidies have totalled $205 billion whereas boeings are $305 billion, also some states give boeing tax breaks and fund infrastructure such as runways and roads. Please get of your USA High horse and look at the facts, Also what, in terms of engineering, makes the airbus aircraft inferior,and please give more detail them, “cuz they R”
I apologize to everyone. You are crazy. Airbus is the best aircraft manufacturer in the world. Has the most economic aircraft that can find made “‹”‹from best quality materials. They ended up with the Boeing braggers who considered the best and the biggest of all with his 747. The A380 came for that reason. To end the pride of Boeing. The Airbus planes are the best quality you can find nowadays. Awaken to the reality. Airbus is the best in all sectors: quality; fuel economy; confort; safety and distance.
Airbus is big fat European boondoggle that would not exist without EU SUBSIDIES. Boeing sells excellent and airplanes the Military of the United State. These sales and Not SUBSIDIES THAT EADS GETS FROM THE EU. The A400 and A330 MRTT would not exist if not for direct investment by the socialist governments of the EU. You cannot convince me that bankrupt and borderline Third World countries like Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal will ever top Boeing or THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA at anything. Hell. France builds the piece of shit Rafale that they cannot even give away. Only the UK and Germany are EU countries I would trust to build a plane of any sort. We don’t give over half our income to the government like you do in the socialist EU.
Airbus is big fat European boondoggle that would not exist without EU SUBSIDIES. Boeing sells excellent and superior airplanes for airlines the Military of the United State. These are sales and Not SUBSIDIES THAT EADS GETS FROM THE EU. The A400 and A330 MRTT would not exist if not for direct investment by the socialist governments of the EU. You cannot convince me that bankrupt and borderline Third World countries like Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal will ever top Boeing or THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA at anything. Hell. France builds the piece of shit Rafale that they cannot even give away. Only the UK and Germany are the EU countries I would trust to build a plane of any sort. We don’t give over half our income to the government like you do in the socialist EU for direct subsidies in state owned airplane makers.
Rosko sorry to say this, but The countries that are part of Airbus are UK, France, Spain and Germany. Portugal is not a partnership with Airbus.The Airbus is an independent company and they get nothing from EU. And Compare the prices of planes from Airbus and Boeing. The Airbus planes are more expensive than those of Boeing.Do you know why? Because Boeing airplanes are crap and Boeing know it and that’s why they sell so cheap because they are of poor quality.
I absolutely agree with you. Airbus planes are far more technologically advanced , far more superior to fly and have much better engine options than boeing. Boeing on the other hand is cheaper with cheaper engine options and so airlines run after that . One can clearly see that well to do airlines such as Lufthansa or Virgin Atlantic have a good number of A330-300s , A340-300s and A340-600s all of which are far more expensive than their boeing counterparts.
Airbus is top class aircraft with best models nowadays. American people think they are superior in everything, they are “Go(l)d-blessed”. They have very bad habit to mortify everyone else. But reality is very different – american car industry sucks and economy in general is not so far either. In case money needed, they will just print it because they’re allowed. Boeing 747? Very recognizable plane but very ugly too. And just take a look at 787 Dreamliner – every month some of defects appears. Boeing’s ex director Phil Condit once said: “Airbus is company with no future” – typically american underestimation. Well now you got a box!
Certainly I think airbus is the greatest as it has many ordors in this year.
Poor American. They are a product of corrupted media established by Jewish.
American people think they are the world leader while in fact they have nothing!
There is no comparison between German-French Airbus and the Chevrolet Boeng at all in terms of Comfort and safety.
The only reason why Boeing still exist because each yer the American president order all the oil-countries to buy hundreds planes by order each year.
So mr. Shadico. I am laughing at your comments. However, your predictions about Airbus vs. Boeing seems to be wrong. I hope no one invested due to your predictions. Who is the market leader now you retard? :p. This is just the beginning. Boeing is taking the entire market.
I believe that Boeing is Superior because a) it has lasted longer than Airbus, b) has a bigger net worth, c) Boeing can change its stance easier, mainly that it could solely do one thing or another ( military or commercially ), and d) has a higher oxygen density allowing the passengers not to feel as tired and has slightly bigger windows. However Airbus is a good company, and is a worthy opponent of my native countries’s Boeing.
France, italy, spain and portugal are not third world contuies.
AIRBUS rocks.
AIRBUS is the future.
AIRBUS is entering USA.
AIRBUS will rule the Skies.
AIRBUS is Future 2014 to 21000.
MAKE NO MISTAKES in MAKING and CHALLENGING AIRBUS.
DESIGN THE BEST!
lol Boeing makes superior products,airbus doesnt have a superb plane as the 798-9 series.
The 787-9 is stunning and is much better tan any Airbus counterpart,this whole subisidesed fatty Airbus will have his end soon
The fatty boeing will lose because of a350 xwb and a320neo ,a350 xwb can compete 777 ,while a320neo can compete 737 max. boeing : (
american said the same about the european cars, they crap and bla bla, all millionares buys them in USA, boeing belives in that the cockpit should indicate the pilot what to do and not make any decisions, airbus belives that mostly everything should be decide by a computor cockpit. get what, 99% of crashes are human error. yeeeeeeeeeeeeeee airbus for me.
This thread is funny. The article was written in February. The last sentence reads, “Only time will tell!” Well, we’re half way through 2014, and Boeing is cleaning Airbus’ clock. The A350XWB order book is shrinking BEFORE first delivery. The VLA segment (A380 and 747-8) is dead. And that’s where Airbus spent a boatload of R&D $$$ while Boeing’s R&D budget was going toward the 787 (which has sold 1,xxx so far). Meanwhile, 777x has largest launch ever in the 2-aisle segment. For 2014 Boeing is winning the battle. And it’s not even as close as the order numbers show. This is a long-term game for two giant, fairly well-run competitors, but for now Boeing appears to be far better-positioned in terms of product and profitability.
Rosko America is far more of a third world country than France and it is probably safe to say almost anything made in France is better than made in the USA, start with wine and Champagne, they can design and build a F1 race car, something The USA failed at for years.
America has to date not even succeeded in building a proper motorcar that the developed world takes seriously!
Rafale jets saved Misrata town from invasion in Libia under full Russian radar and missile cover, no losses, USA jets only dared to go in 3 weeks later after firing hundreds of Tomohawks at Radar an Missile installations before risking their “superior” planes
I work on aviation Industry and I have realized after years of experience in Both Airbus/Boeing, that Boeing is much better product that Airbus, Airbus is too expensive regarding to the Maintenance,also the Air nav or Airbus World is too complicated and not easy due has to be explorer which is not longer used, the Components are so expensive that what the operators think they are saving in fuel they waste in components.
Airbus Structure (Fuselage, wings etc. is too weak and complicated than the french can not even response a simple question and all that BS of the the WV is really BS.
there are components on the aircraft that has to be replaced due the durability is so poor
Jose:
You are so full of crap, you may drown in it!
Airbus planes are DANGEROUS garbage. Their planes are dropping like flies. Yet another crash today in France. They have INFERIOR composite parts that CRACK AND FALL OFF! I REFUSE to fly in an Airbus. If it’s NOT Boeing, I’m not going.