Airbus booked firm orders for 248 airplanes during the month of November, raising its net total for the year to 1,031 and boosting its backlog to more than 6,000 airplanes for the first time ever. Deliveries during the month reached a total of 61, as the company does its best to keep pace with the exploding demand for airliners and mitigate lengthy lead times.

Airbus’s impressive sales showing during the month of November drew it closer to Boeing in the race for bragging rights in 2014, but not by much. For its part, Boeing drew gross orders for 224 airplanes during the month of November, including the closure of a deal announced December 1 with Ryanair covering a hundred 737 Max 200s. Boeing collected net orders for 1,274 airplanes as of the end of November, passing its year-end target of 1,100 set at the start of 2014. 

In the widebody category, U.S.-based Delta Air Lines placed a firm order for 25 A350-900s, while Air Mauritius confirmed its order for four, bringing total A350 XWB bookings to 778 aircraft for 41 customers. Another new widebody project—the A330neo—drew its first firm orders since its launch in July with a contract involving Delta Air Lines covering 25 A330-900s and a deal with CIT Group for 15 of the type.

In the narrowbody category, Azul Brazilian Airlines ordered 25 A320neos and 10 A321neos, CIT Group ordered five A321ceos, New York-based JetBlue Airways ordered 10 A321neos and Denver-based Frontier Airlines signed for nine A321ceos. 

Three major A320-series orders came from undisclosed customers.  One involved 30 A320neos, 14 A320ceos and six A319ceos; another covered 30 A320ceos, while the third comprised 15 A320neos, 13 A320ceos, 10 A321ceos and two A319ceos.

November’s deliveries consisted of 46 A320-series jetliners, 12 A330s and three A380s. By the end of the month Airbus had delivered 554 aircraft to 85 customers, including the first directly purchased Airbus jetliner by Vietnam’s VietJet Air, which took an A320ceo, and the initial A330-200 Freighter directly acquired from Airbus by Qatar Airways.

Based on the month’s activity, Airbus’ backlog at the end of November stood at the record total of 6,036 jetliners.