Boeing sold a record 1,044 commercial airplanes worldwide last year, almost certainly eclipsing European rival Airbus for the first time in six years.

Boeing's 2006 orders — worth about $114 billion at list prices and announced by the company Thursday — will likely make Chicago-based Boeing once again the top seller of commercial planes. Starting in 2001, France-based Airbus had sold more commercial planes each year than Boeing. Boeing took orders from 76 buyers last year, including passenger and cargo airlines and leasing firms. Boeing's orders fell short of Airbus' industry record of 1,055 orders in 2005.

Scott Carson, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, called 2006 "another outstanding year for our customers and for Boeing." He applauded the company for "bringing the right products and services to the market at the right time."

Boeing's orders were "surprisingly strong" and were buoyed by Airbus' weaknesses, said aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. Boeing shares closed Thursday at $89.53, up 0.4 percent.

Airbus, the only other company in the world that builds large commercial passenger jets, has not yet released its year-end numbers. But it had only 635 orders at the end of November and struggled last year from production delays and management shake-ups. Airbus, owned by European Aeronautic Defence and Space, will report its 2006 orders on Jan. 17.

Although both Boeing and Airbus are designing and building high-tech wide-body jets for the future, it was the stubby little 737, a single-aisle jet that first entered service in 1968, that drove Boeing's 2006 sales. The company booked a record 729 orders for various versions of the 737, up from 569 orders for that plane in 2005. Boeing's single-biggest customer by number of planes was Texas-based Southwest Airlines, which ordered 82 Boeing 737s. But European and Asian airlines helped propel Boeing's 2006 sales. In December, for example, Korean Air placed a 25-plane order for 737s, 777s and 747s.

Boeing booked 157 orders for its 787 Dreamliner, a new-design wide-body with fast, next-generation engines whose fuselage will be built entirely of manmade composite material. The first 787 is scheduled to go into service next year. Boeing has booked 448 orders for the 787, the strongest launch ever for a new jet.

Germany's Lufthansa recently became the first airline to order the passenger version of the 747-8 Intercontinental, the new-generation jumbo jet.

Lufthansa ordered 20 of the jets for a total list price of $5 billion.