Boeing set to fly further ahead of Airbus as orders take off

Boeing is on target to become the world's leadingaircraft maker, knocking Airbus off the number one spot for the first time in a decade.

The company, based in the United States, delivered more aircraft in the first quarter of this year than its European rivals, and analysts say Boeing's lead is expected to widen as the year unfolds.

Boeing delivered 137 commercial jets in the first three months of this year, up 32 per cent from a year earlier, compared with 131 aircraft delivered by Airbus - a rise of just 10 per cent.

Airbus has also fallen behind Boeing in new orders so far this year. After sweeping the board last year with sales of a revamped and more fuel efficient model of the A320 - the neo - Airbus sold just 100 jets in the first quarter, a figure reduced to a net total of 90 when adjusting for 10 order cancellations.

However, Boeing, which started booking orders for its own fuel-saving version of the 737 - the Max - sold 440 airliners in the first quarter and took 412 net orders after cancellations.

"Airbus won the order game in 2011 with the A320 neo. Boeing didn't have a competing plane to sell. They now have it with the B737Max, and as such I expect them to be the big winner this year," said Jason Gursky, a Citigroup analyst.

Boeing's progress has also been driven by the coming to market, after considerable production delays, of the 787 Dreamliner and the Boeing 747-8.

Boeing delivered six 747-8 stretched jumbos and five of the new carbon-composite Dreamliners, while Airbus delivered just four A380 superjumbos. However, assembly of the first A350, the Airbus answer to the Dreamliner, began this week. The A350 is due to enter service in mid-2014.

Meanwhile, Airbus has warned it may lose some of its Chinese market due to a row with the European Union over rules for reducing aircraft emissions.

Boeing commercial jets currently make up 60 per cent of fleets in the Middle East, but the planemaker had slipped below Airbus for deliveries over the past five years, with a 42 per cent market share.