Bumper Year for Boeing

Seattle-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing has announced its best year since the 9/11 attacks of 2001. The airline industry's revival has led to more orders for new aircraft and Boeing has delivered 441 aircraft in 2007 and taken orders for another 1,413. The 737 is still the biggest seller with 846 orders, followed by the new mid-size long-haul 787 Dreamliner, which is scheduled to begin flight testing in the spring, with 369 orders.

However, analysts still expect Airbus to come out slightly ahead in orders and deliverys when they announce their figures in a couple of weeks. By the end of November Airbus had recorded 410 deliveries and 1,204 orders.