US airlines expect a 5.2% increase in air travel during the Christmas and New Year's break, to more than 2.5m people a day. The busiest day is expected to be the Friday before Christmas. The trade group Airlines for America said Tuesday it forecasts that 45.7m passengers will fly on a US airline during the 18-day stretch that starts Thursday, Dec. 20, and runs through Jan. 6, the Sunday after New Year's Day. The group says that since last Christmas, airlines have added 143,000 seats per day on domestic and international flights. They are hoping that's enough to handle the expected increase of 126,000 passengers a day.<br/>
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Shares in Boeing slipped 2% Tuesday after November deliveries suggested the world’s largest planemaker will need a surge in deliveries in December to hit its year-end targets, though it surpassed some analyst expectations. Boeing said it delivered 61 of its top-selling 737 single-aisle jetliners in November, above its monthly production rate of 52, and higher than the 43 aircraft delivered in October. While Boeing reports deliveries of specific airplane types but does not make comparable projections, Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said in a client note that Boeing would need to deliver 79 of its 737s in December to hit its total 2018 airplane delivery target of 810 to 815 airplanes. “Our estimate assumes deliveries of the 737 reach 79 in December, which is unlikely,” Kahyaoglu said. Boeing’s delivery data for 737s surpassed the expectations of some analysts. Before Tuesday, UBS analyst Myles Walton said Boeing delivered around 55 737s, while Baird’s Peter Arment said November 737 deliveries were roughly 45 aircraft. Overall, Boeing deliveries for the first 11 months of 2018 rose to 704 aircraft from 680 in the same period a year earlier. That leaves 106 aircraft left to deliver to customers in December to meet its target. Higher deliveries for the 737 and 767 were offset by drops in the 777 and its carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner, company data showed.<br/>
Boeing has unveiled its newest line of business jets, which the company says will allow VIP travelers to fly nonstop between "any two cities on Earth." The BBJ 777X planes will have a range of 21,570 km, enabling them to offer the longest commercial flight in the world. Depending on which routes the jets are used on, the new models mean Boeing could wrestle the crown for farthest nonstop travel away from Airbus. Earlier this year, Singapore Airlines resumed its 17-hour flights between London and Singapore on Airbus A350-900 ULR (Ultra-Long Range) jets. But the distance traveled on the record-breaking flights is a mere 16,700 km, putting it below the range Boeing's new jets are capable of. The planes "can fly more than halfway around the world without stopping, farther than any business jet ever built," the company said. "Our most exclusive customers want to travel with the best space and comfort and fly directly to their destination. The new BBJ 777X will be able to do this like no other airplane before it, redefining ultra-long range VIP travel," said Greg Laxton, head of Boeing Business Jets. The jets could be used to connect New York City with Perth in Western Australia, a journey which currently requires a connection and takes more than a day to make.<br/>