EVERETT — Airbus sees a slow year ahead for aircraft orders after reclaiming the sales title from the Boeing Co. in 2008.
“We all know we are going into a challenging year for the aeronautics industry,” said Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus, after releasing the company’s 2008 results Thursday.
The European company broke its previous record for jet deliveries, handing over 483 aircraft to customers last year, 30 more than in 2007. Boeing’s plane production last year was hobbled by a 57-day Machinists’ strike and parts shortages. The Chicago-based Boeing delivered 375 planes in 2008.
After picking up 777 net aircraft orders last year, Airbus expects a significant drop in demand in 2009. Airbus’ chief salesman John Leahy predicted a 300- to 400-order year for the company, meaning that Airbus’ deliveries in 2009 likely will exceed its orders.
Last week, Boeing also indicated it believes 2009 will be a slow year for the industry, announcing it will lay off 4,500 workers from its commercial airplanes division. The 60-day layoff notices will go out next month. With a backlog of roughly 3,700 unfilled orders, Boeing said it will trim overhead, not production positions.
Boeing fell behind Airbus in aircraft orders with 662 net requests in 2008. Boeing, however, narrowly bested Airbus in orders of single-aisle jets with Boeing’s 737 winning 484 orders compared to Airbus’ 472 for its A320.
Delays in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner played into Airbus’ A330 success in 2008. The Toulouse, France-based company recently pushed back deliveries of its A330 Freighter to accommodate demand for its A330 passenger plane. The A330 received more orders, 137, than Boeing’s 787 and 767 combined.
Airbus’ relaunched mostly-composite A350 Extra Wide Body jet added 163 net orders last year for a lifetime total of 478. The company broke ground earlier this week on a new final assembly line in Toulouse for the A350.
The company’s A380 also beat out Boeing’s 747 in the jumbo jet market with nine orders over Boeing’s three. The company said it met its goal of delivering 12 superjumbo jets in 2008.
On Thursday, Air Austral, an airline based in St. Denis, La Reunion, said it signed a tentative agreement with Airbus for two A380s, each in a single-class configuration which seats up to 840 passengers.
“Our vision is to provide a low cost, high quality service on the heavy traffic route between La Reunion and Paris and the A380 allows us to make this vision a reality,” Gerard Etheve, president of Air Austral, said in a statement.
Boeing learned on Thursday that it has a potential airplane customer in Iran should the U.S. government lift sanctions barring American companies from doing business with the country. The sanctions have been in place since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The U.S. and its allies believe Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, though Iran denies this accusation.
“Iran has been an important Boeing customer,” said Reza Jafarzadeh, spokesman of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran. “With sanctions imposed, the U.S. has denied its own companies of a big profit.”
“Governments support economic interests of their companies, but the U.S. is harming its own commercial interests,” he said. “If Americans want to save themselves from the current financial meltdown, they need to reconsider their policies and lift sanctions.”
Boeing posted its first orders for 2009 on its Web site on Thursday. The company listed a request for 13 of its Renton-built 737 jets, attributing the order to an undisclosed customer. Boeing will release its fourth-quarter and 2008 earnings report Jan. 28.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.
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