On Track To Deliver Approx. 445 Planes In 2007

It'll come down to the wire, that's for certain.

Boeing announced Thursday it delivered 109 commercial airplanes in the third quarter of 2007, nine more than in the same period in 2006. That brings Boeing's year-to-date delivery numbers to 329 aircraft, according to the planemaker's website... and puts Boeing on track to deliver somewhere around 440-445 planes for the year.

Whether that will be enough to usurp the title of world's biggest planemaker from European rival Airbus, however, remains to be seen.

Airbus has held the title, based on deliveries, since 2002; the planemaker has said it plans to deliver between 450-460 airframes this year, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Boeing CEO Jim McNerney was pragmatic on his company's prospects for beating Airbus in the deliveries game for 2007, saying the company expects to overtake Airbus in deliveries by early 2008 -- helped by momentum from its 787 Dreamliner, for which Boeing has over 700 orders.

For now, at least, Boeing -- like Airbus -- continues to rely on narrowbody airliners for most of its deliveries. The planemaker delivered 81 erstwhile 737s for Q3, along with 20 777s, five 747s and three 767s.

FMI: www.boeing.com