Boeing expects deliveries to soar by 60% in 2013

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Beijing Capital International Airport. More than 120 Boeings will be delivered to Chinese airlines this year. [Photo/Xinhua]

Boeing Co is expected to increase its deliveries to China by 60 percent this year, the head of its operation in the country said on Friday, with orders for its full range of aircraft, including its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet.

Marc Allen, president of Boeing China, said the manufacturing giant expected to deliver more than 120 aircraft to Chinese airlines in 2013, including its 1,000th Boeing to the country this month.

Single-aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 737 will be most popular type delivered.

Allen expected China's economy and its civil aviation sector to grow faster this year than in 2012.

However, the upbeat assessment of Boeing's coming 12 months in China met with skepticism by some aviation experts, who think manufacturers will struggle to see a rise in new orders this year.

Zou Jianjun, a professor at the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China, said 2012 had been a tough year for the industry, with growth slowing.

"The civil aviation industry still needs time to recover. It will grow in 2013, but the market is still far from its peak time."

China's air transport volumes grew 6.1 percent in 2012, considerably lower than previous years.

Boeing's reputation was dented after two high-profile battery malfunctions on Dreamliners led to international aviation regulators grounding the company's flagship jet in mid-January.

Boeing's order book for commercial aircraft remains strong with nearly 4,400 planes in the pipeline, valued at a record of $319 billion at the end of 2012, according to the company's financial report.

Meanwhile, Airbus SAS, Boeing's main competitor, had an order book for 4,682 aircraft.

Airbus raised its global deliveries by 10 percent to 588 civil aircraft in 2012, the manufacturer said in January.

Boeing also improved its production rate by 26 percent in 2012, and delivered 601 aircraft to customers, its highest total since 1999.

The manufacturer doubled its production rate on the Dreamliner to five per month at the end of 2012, but many orders, including first deliveries to four Chinese airlines, are now delayed, in some cases by up to three years.

Jim McNerney, Boeing's chairman, said in January that its "first order of business for 2013 is to resolve the battery issue on the 787 and return the planes safely to service with our customers".

More than 60 Dreamliners are expected to be delivered in 2013, and Boeing admitted in its annual business plan that work on improving the production rate was needed this year.

wangwen@chinadaily.com.cn

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