The pending A320 production increase (announcement)...

John Leahy just today stated (not for the first time) that Airbus thinks about an increase in A320 production. I think an increase is out of question. The flydubai order for up to 100 B737MAX-8 could be the last trigger.
flydubai reportedly leaned pro Airbus for some time. But after Boeing decided to bring B737 production up to 47 in 2017 they were able to offer MAX slots in the second half of 2017. And these 60 extra slots per year could now trigger more sale campaign wins for Boeing and the B737MAX versus the A320neo. So Airbus has to react quickly and try to find delivery slots especially in 2017 and 2018.
On the other hand Boeing's increase raises the question how many more B737NG slots have to be filled until mid 2017, as one should guess that there is not a step change once the B737MAX starts delivery and the increase to 47 per month should create some more delivery slots in 2016 and 2017 for the B737NG, which is already short of orders in my calculation.

Airbus raises order target

OK, John Leahy is a little bit late to acknowledge there are more orders to come this year (at least later than me) and he now expects more than 1000 orders, instead of more than 800 and the initial goal of more than 700. And as we know how John Leahy ticks, he never wants to under-deliver and we can be pretty sure that he already has the customers in mind which will make him reach that target.
At the end of June there were 758 orders. Then Easyjet got the OK from their shareholders to order 35 A320ceo and 100 A320neo. Then there is the MoU from Hong Kong Aviation for 60 A320neo and the MoU from Doric for 20 A380. Also there is an commitment for 2 more A380 from Lufthansa. The order from SAS for 8 A350-900 and 4 A330-300 needs to be firmed up also, as well as the order from Kuwait Airways for 25 aircraft. Here we are: 1012!
Then there are new orders still to be decided: Monarch, Vueling, Lufthansa (widebodies), flydubai, Air Canada and probably some others also.
Still room to lift the target once or twice...

B737MAX vs. A320neo: Backlog Comparison

Boeing and TUI Travel today announced a commitment for 60 B737MAX (-8 and -9 versions) with an option for a further 90 aircraft. Boeing now has 1471 firm orders and commitments for the B737MAX. Airbus has, including the to-be-firmed order from Air China and Shenzen Airlines for a

Narrowbody Outlook 2013

After Boeing and Airbus unveiled their final order and delivery numbers for 2012 it is now time to turn to what is ahead. What will 2013 bring us in the narrowbody segment?

Let’s begin with deliveries – this is quite easy:

·         Airbus stabilizes their output rate at 42/month and will deliver 480-485 A320 family aircraft (ca. 11.5*42 as we have to take the summer break into account)

·         Boeing will increase the delivery rate towards  38 B737NG’s per month and therefore deliver between 450-460 narrowbodies.

·         Bombardier will deliver the first CS100 in 2014, so A & B are (probably for the last time) alone.