Sky’s the limit

It’s been a good year to sell airplanes.

Even before Boeing Co. announced a Qantas Airways Ltd. order for 45 long-range 787 jets — with 20 options plus purchase rights for an additional 50 airplanes — the Chicago-based company remained on track to sell more planes than Airbus for the first time in five years.

As of Dec. 6, Boeing had won 806 firm orders, more than any year in nearly two decades, and more than the previous three years combined. Airbus sold 687 planes through the end of November, the most up-to-date total available, compared to 370 in 2004.

Regardless of what happens in the final weeks of the year, Boeing has made up so much ground, some analysts are predicting it will reclaim its title as the world’s No. 1 airplane manufacturer within the next few years.