Boeing Planes for Sale

Airbus was even more of a one-trick bang than ever, with the single-aisle Airbus 20 Family accounting for more than 1,000 of its net orders.

Meanwhile, the three large-capacity familys together won only 55 net orders. Boeing, on the other hand, had a more even order book with 745 net orders for the 737 series and 167 net orders for the four wide-body series. Although this was not sufficient to achieve Boeing's wide-body output, it was a sound performance given the recent decline in large long-haul jet sales.

These successes in the wide-body segment were sustained in the first few month of 2018. Ordering planes is not all the same. Narrow-bodies such as the 737 and Airbus models are sold in large numbers, but at significantly lower sales than wide-body models. In addition, airframe builders are tending to show higher floating margin sales of wide-body models.

The most important thing is that Boeing and Airbus currently have huge arrears of narrow-bodies, which corresponds to about seven years of production for Boeing and a full nine years of production for Airbus. On the narrow body side, constructing airplanes quick enough to satisfy the customer was more challenging than gaining orders.

On the wholesale markets, the backlog is much lower, corresponding in most cases to four to five years of work. Indeed, order gaps have compelled Boeing to discontinue its 747 and 777 jet engine series, while Airbus has had to scale back its A330 and A380 jet engine fleet in recent years.

Due to a shortage of orders, Boeing had to cut its 777 million euro manufacturing output last year. Boeing. Boeing's order dynamics in the wide-body segment picked up again in the first three months of 2018. By the end of February, the aviation and space travel industry had received 21 orders for wide-body aircraft this year.

Other three planes are the 777 ordered by an non-identified client. Turkish Airlines placed a firm order last Monday for 25 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with a further five options . Hawaiian Holdings also announced early this month that it will be cancelling its order for six Airbus A330-800neos. Instead, it anticipates placing a firm order for 10 787-9 dream liners in the second trimester.

These two Dreamliner contracts have now been added to Boeing's order book and in 2018 the Group will have received 56 fixed orders for wide-body vehicles. Airbus has an answer? Airbus once again lags behind Boeing when it comes to large-capacity orders at the beginning of 2018. Last months, Airbus signed an important contract with Emirates for 20 A380 aircraft.

Due to the order cancellations by Hawaiian Airlines and Virgin Atlantic's refusal to place an order for six Airbus Airbus 380s, however, only eight net firm orders for wide-body aircraft have been received to date. Recently, Airbus announced a Turkish Airlines pledge for 25 A350-900s with a further five aircraft option. Boeing still has a big advantage with this, however.

At present, the general gap between Boeing and Airbus in terms of residues from wide-body aircraft is not so great: The Boeing has a head start of 1,190 to 1,117. However, Boeing retains its order edge even though it has shipped significantly more wide-bodies than Airbus in recent years. In 2017, Airbus supplied 160 wide-body aircraft, down from 234 for Boeing.

As Boeing maintains its order lead the longer it can retain a supply lead. This in turn will help Boeing to lower its manufacturing cost, which may allow it to provide larger rebates and thereby attract even more orders. It is therefore crucial for Airbus to return to some order dynamics in the wide-body segment as quickly as possible.