Boeing, Airbus Face Delivery Backlog - Report

February 20, 2009

Boeing and Airbus may not be able to deliver more than half of the aircraft they will produce in 2009, Flightglobal said on its web site, citing International Air Transport Association chief executive Giovanni Bisignani.

Airlines belonging to IATA are struggling to secure financing for their 2009 deliveries and for many it no longer makes commercial sense to take delivery of additional aircraft, the magazine cited Bisignani as telling reporters after a speech at the Wings Club in New York.

Boeing and Airbus, as well as the US and French governments, have pledged to provide more of their own financing but the gap is simply too big to bridge entirely, the magazine quoted the IATA CEO as saying.

"We delivered 483 aircraft in 2008. We intend to deliver the same range in 2009," an Airbus spokesperson said, adding: "We said that yesterday when we revised production rates. The delivery target remains unchanged for 2009."

The magazine, however, quoted Bisignani as saying that his "perception" that Airbus and Boeing will fail to deliver more than half of the aircraft produced this year "can easily change" if there is an improvement in economic conditions, the financial markets or airline traffic.

International air freight traffic dropped 22.6 percent in December compared to a year earlier, industry data showed.