FLEET WATCH: Airliners Orders December 2008

By Antoine Fafard

Airliner net orders came in at 67 for the month of December as 69 new orders were offset by two cancellations, .

The newly launched Egyptian carrier Nile Air placed orders for nine Airbus A321s while Aeroflot ordered another six. British Airways ordered six Embraer 170s while Vietnam Airlines ordered six ATR42s. AerVenture, the aircraft leasing company AerCap joint venture with LoadAir of Kuwait, cancelled one A320. Lufthansa swapped two Embraer 190s for the 195, while GECAS traded the other way swapping a single 195 for a 190.

Boeing led in December winning 23 new orders (before one 767 cancellation), while Airbus followed with 22. Embraer counted 14, ATR six and Bombardier one.

Narrowbody orders totalled 24 for the month, led by 15 A321s. Widebody orders came in at 21, while a total of 15 regional jet and 9 turboprop aircraft were placed.

Overall, the order backlog ended December and the year at 8,478, down 71 on the previous month.