Airplane manufacturer Boeing Inc. (BA) added $2.8 billion worth of orders to its backlog on Monday after it had signed a deal with United Arab Emirates-based Etihad Airways for the supply of 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and two Boeing 777 Freighters. The current order is in addition to the existing orders pending with the airline manufacturer. The latest order takes the total number of orders for 787s to 41 by Etihad with an option to extend it by purchasing 25 more.
With the latest order from Etihad, Boeing disclosed that Etihad has become the single lagest airline customer for the 787-9 in the world. Earlier, Etihad placed orders for two Boeing 777 and along with the current order, the total backlog orders rises to 12 airplanes now.
Commenting on the developments, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Jim Albaugh said, "We are extremely proud of our partnership with Etihad Airways and are confident the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 Freighter will make valuable contributions to Etihad's growth plans and service for its passenger and freight customers."
While announcing third quarter results, Boeing said that its backlog increased to $332 billion that includes $26 billion in orders secured during the quarter. The company disclosed then that it also strengthened its foundation for more growth by completing development and certification of the 787-8 Dreamline and 747-8 Freighter, launching the new 737 MAX besides continuing its disciplined ramp up in commercial airplane production rates.
In the Commercial Airplanes space, Boeing said then that it could book 255 net orders in the third quarter and 426 in the 9-month period, while backlog remained strong with more than 3,500 airplanes worth at $273 billion.
The latest news comes on the heels of the U.S. government threatening to take Airbus Industrie to World Trade Organization for imposing trade sanctions to the tune of $7 billion - $10 billion on Airbus.
Both Boeing and Airbus are engaged in a battle of wits to rule the aviation manufacturing space and are also charging the governments of siding with their respective company's base. If Boeing accuses European Union of providing subsidies to boost Airbus performance, the Euro Zone has its own dose of complaints against the U.S. for supporting Boeing.
The France Trader Minister has reportedly termed the U.S. rejection of Europe's offer to remove subsidies as "excessive and premature." The airplane makers market is roughly estimated at around $2 trillion and the fight between the two major makers is reportedly affecting 100 thousand jobs.
During the last ten years, Airbus topped Boeing in securing orders as well as delivering of them, data from Wikipedia says. While Airbus received 6,506 orders, Boeing has won orders for 5,869 planes between 2001 and 2010. During the same period, Airbus delivered 4,009, whereas Boeing delivered 3,921 planes.