Airbus outsold Boeing in 2005 with 1,055 net orders, it said on Tuesday, capping a record year for both marked by fierce price competition and strong demand from Asian and budget airlines.
Airbus almost tripled the 366 net orders it had captured in 2004 and beat Boeing's tally of 1,002, despite many analysts' expectations that the European planemaker risked losing its lead for the first time since 2000.
Airbus had 678 orders at the end of November, trailing Boeing at 827.
At an annual news conference Airbus said it also led Boeing in deliveries for a third consecutive year, with 378 planes leaving its assembly lines compared with 320 in 2004. Boeing had 290 deliveries after a strike trimmed higher expectations.
Deliveries make up the bulk of Airbus revenues, which rose 10 percent to EUR22.3 billion (USD$26.9 billion), up from EUR20.2 billion (USD$24.4 billion) in 2004.
The Airbus order backlog rose to 2,177 aircraft worth USD$220.3 billion from 1,500 at the end of 2004.
Airbus Chief Executive Gustav Humbert told reporters the return on sales came in at a "ballpark" level of 10 percent, compared with around 9 percent in 2004. Airbus said in a statement it had exceeded its 10 percent target in 2005.
"We saw very aggressive pricing from Boeing in 2005 but you can see we could match it and improve profitability," Humbert said. "There was a big pressure on prices in 2005."
Airbus claimed victory over Boeing in orders, deliveries and backlog, with a 51 percent share of net orders for jets able to seat at least 100 passengers and 55 percent of the order book.
However, Airbus figures showed that its orders were mainly driven by sales of cheaper, single-aisle models to budget airlines, while it lost several deals for larger jets to Boeing.
The US planemaker had a record year for its twin-engined long-haul 777 and beat Airbus's planned mid-sized A350 with strong sales of its new 787 Dreamliner.
Airbus said it had 87 firm orders and another 85 commitments for the newly launched A350, whereas Boeing said earlier this month it had orders for 235 of the 787s last year.
The mix of larger planes in Airbus's gross orders intake fell to 17 percent from 25 percent.
Humbert said he wanted to catch up with Boeing in long-range and wide-bodied jets within two years: "We have to take the next two years to really come up to the same 50-50 level of orders of long-range and wide-bodied aircraft."
He also conceded defeat to Boeing in the overall value of jets sold.
He said Airbus's gross orders of 1,111 planes (before cancellations) were worth USD$95.9 billion and estimated Boeing had taken 55 percent of the total market by value.
He said it was too early, however, to comment on speculation that Airbus would be forced to redesign its slow-selling four-engined A340 to counter the 777's success and that no decisions had been taken.
Humbert reiterated a target of at least 400 deliveries in 2006 and an increase in production of single-aisle jets from 28.5 a month now to 30 a month in 2006 and 32 a month in 2007.
He said Airbus aimed for further profitable growth.
