The number of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft heading to customers continued to rise in the third quarter as the US aerospace company delivered a total of 85 commercial aircraft.

However, there were no 787 deliveries as the company continued to grapple with production issues.

Figures released Tuesday show the aerospace giant delivered 66  Max family aircraft, compared to 50 in the second quarter.  Of the other aircraft, two were &47s, 11 were 767s and six were 777s.

The deliveries brought the year-to-date total to 241, although this still lagged the 424 deliveries reported this week by European rival Airbus.

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“We made important progress driving stability throughout our operations in the third quarter, as we prioritized safety and quality and worked to deliver for our customers,” the company said in a statement.

“Our defense and services teams delivered across several key programs. In our commercial business, we increased 737 MAX deliveries in the quarter, and progressed in safely returning the 737 MAX to service in more international markets”.

On the 78t, the planemaker said it continued to complete comprehensive inspections across the 787 production system and within the supply chain.

It was also holding “detailed, transparent discussions with the FAA, suppliers and our customers.”

“Production resources remain focused on inspections and rework and the 787 production rate remains lower than five airplanes per month,’’ it said.

“We will continue to take the time needed to ensure the highest levels of quality. While these efforts continue to impact deliveries, we’re confident this is the right approach to drive stability and first-time quality across our operations and to position the program for the long term as market demand recovers.”

Meanwhile, Boeing has told its 125,000 staff that they will need to be vaccinated by December 8 due to a presidential order applying to contractors.

Eat your heart out Icarus —  the Airbus Zephyr S is not only flying closer to the sun but it’s staying up there for extended missions.

While it looks like a gust of strong wind would be its undoing, the solar-powered Zephyr is proving its mettle after a successful test campaign saw it establish a new world altitude record during a creditable 36 days of stratospheric flight.

The Airbus experimental drone‘s new world record for this class of unmanned aerial system (UAS) saw it reach an astonishing 76,100ft.

The Arizona test campaign of what Airbus calls its “High Altitude Platform System” (HAPS)  was the most ambitious yet and involved four low-level test flights and two stratospheric flights.

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The stratospheric flights flew for around 18 days each, totaling more than 36 days adding a further 887 flight hours to the 2,435 stratospheric flight hours the aircraft has accumulated so far.

The carbon-neutral UAS uses sunlight to recharge its batteries and is designed to remain in the stratosphere for months at a time.

Airbus predicts it will bring “see, sense and connect capabilities”  to both commercial and military customers and has the potential to revolutionize disaster management, including monitoring the spread of wildfires or oil spills.

It marked, according to Airbus, significant progress for a fixed-wing HAPS and a step towards making the stratosphere an operational reality for its customers.

The flights exercised US Federal Aviation Administration flight approvals operating inside the National Airspace System and included a payload that allowed it to stream Earth observation data.

Airbus said the Optical Advanced Earth Observation System was part of a customer focus aimed at demonstrating how  Zephyr could be used for future operations, flying outside of restricted airspace and over airspace shared with commercial air traffic.

“Working with Airbus and the Zephyr team during the 2021 flight campaign, significant progress has been made towards demonstrating HAPS as a capability,’’ said James Gavin, the future capability group head at the procurement arm of the UK Ministry of Defence.

“This summer’s activities represent an important step towards operationalizing the stratosphere.”

Airbus UAS head Jana Rosenmann Zephyr had demonstrated “credible and proven ultra-persistence, stratospheric agility, and payload interoperability”.

“It is a sustainable, solar-powered, ISR and network extending solution that can provide vital future connectivity and earth observation to where it is needed,”  she said.

Boeing has forecast a dramatic pickup in demand for aircraft with a requirement of 19,300 jets over the next 10 years worth $US3.2 trillion.

The aerospace giant has released its 2021 market outlook on the future of aviation with Darren Hulst, VP of commercial marketing, upbeat that the world economy had recovered from COVID-19 but he was cautious on international barriers to travel.

“The fundamentals are stronger now than they were compared to the two previous crises the industry has faced (9/11 and the GFC),” Mr Hulst said.

He said the Asia Pacific region would lead the recovery with a forecast of almost 30 percent growth in GDP by 2025 compared to 2019., which was well ahead of Europe’s that would see growth of about 10 percent over the same period.

“In many ways, the economy will lead the airline industry out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr. Hulst said.

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Boeing said domestic travel would fully recover to 2019 traffic levels by next year, regional travel by 2023, and long haul international by 2024. But it said the recovery would vary significantly from country to country depending on COVID-19 restrictions.

Mr. Hulst said that due to COVID-19 almost 2000 aircraft had already been retired with another 5000 grounded with an uncertain future.

In its market outlook, Boeing said that over the next 20 years, from the base year of 2019, the world economy would grow at an average of 2.7 percent a year, passenger traffic and air cargo at 4 percent, and fleet (jets) at 3.1 percent.

The company has forecast that over the 20 years 43,610 jets would be delivered, with 19,300 of those in the next 10 years — half of that for growth and the rest replacement aircraft.

And 75 percent – or 32,600 – of those aircraft will be the 180-220 seat short to medium-haul aircraft.

China and the Asia-Pacific region would account for 41 percent of the overall demand for aircraft.

Mr. Hulst said the major drivers in the replacement of aircraft would be sustainability and efficiency with twin-engine aircraft such as the 787, 777X, and A350 taking the place of four-engine 747s and A380s.

Boeing says in the US market in the past 30 years aircraft have become twice as efficient compared to the motor car which has only seen a 15 percent improvement in efficiency.

The company says that for the 3,000 near-term retirements to be replaced by more fuel-efficient models the savings would be $9 billion in fuel in a full year and $16b in operating costs as well as 36 tonnes of CO2.

Mr Hulst said there had been a rapid recovery in markets where there were minimal restrictions, such as domestic with travel at 84 percent of 2019 levels but international was way behind at 26 percent.

However, in the international arena airlines have added over 100 new long-haul routes in the past year as passengers seek to fly non-stop to their destination says, Boeing.

To service this growth and cover retirements Boeing says the airline industry will need to recruit and train 612,000 new pilots, 626,000 technicians, and 886,000 cabin crew over the next 40 years.

Boeing is set to launch a freighter version of its new 777X at next month’s Dubai Air Show with Qatar Airways likely to be the lunch customer.

According to a Bloomberg report, Boeing is also talking with FedEx, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Singapore Airlines, and DHL.

Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, noted at the IATA AGM earlier this month that his airline has a “requirement for 50 aircraft and will make a decision soon.”

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Qatar Airways is the second-largest customer for the 777X passenger aircraft with 60 orders and is likely to convert some to the freighter model.

Bloomberg reports that insiders say that the 777X freighter, will be sized between its two planned passenger versions.

Boeing has a 90 percent market share in the cargo market but now faces potentially intense competition from Airbus with its new A350 freighter which will be delivered in 2025.