By Dan Catchpole
SEATTLE, May 12 (Reuters) – Boeing booked 135 net new orders in April, nearly matching its total in the first three months of the year, the company said on Tuesday.
Through the first four months of the year, Boeing has booked 284 new orders after adjusting for cancellations and conversions. That is the highest total for that period since 2014.
However, the U.S. planemaker trails European rival Airbus, which has booked 405 orders after cancellations and conversions through April 30. Airbus delivered 67 jets last month.
Boeing delivered 47 jetliners in April, one more than the previous month. Deliveries are when customers hand over most of the cash for a new airplane, and so are closely tracked by investors.
Last month’s deliveries included 34 737 MAX jets and six 787s.
Certification delays for premium seats continue to hamper deliveries of Boeing’s 787. Nonetheless, the company still expects to deliver 90-100 of the popular twin-aisle jet this year, CFO Jay Malave said during an earnings call last month.
April’s orders included 57 737 MAX jets and 51 787s, mostly from unidentified customers. They also included 28 777X orders from undisclosed customers. Boeing continues working to certify the long-delayed jetliner.
The first 777-9 configured for passengers flew for the first time on May 7. The plane, ordered by Lufthansa, had originally been slated to fly in April, as first reported by Reuters earlier this year. However, test flight schedules routinely shift for a variety of reasons.
(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle. Editing by Mark Potter)
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