Fabrice Brégier, president and CEO of European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, has told CNBC his company would take the bragging rights on aircraft deliveries over rival Boeing this year, but added that the focus remains on its "extraordinary" backlog of 6,000 planes that are in the pipeline.
"Competition is fierce with Boeing, it's clear," he said on Monday.
"We are not focused on that. Clearly we have already more than 1,000 net [orders] this year after a record year last year...we will be number one, or very close to number one."
According to Airbus' website, the company has delivered 554 aircraft through November. That compares to 647 deliveries for Boeing, according to its website, which last updated at the end of November. The remarks come as Airbus completed the delivery of its brand new A350 XWB wide-body product to Qatar Airways Monday.
The carrier had ordered a total of 80 A350 aircraft, which is seen as a competitor to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which launched in 2011. Monday's delivery had been scheduled for earlier in the month but had been delayed without any clear explanation. Shares in Airbus tanked 10 percent on the news which came on December 8, but were trading nearly 1 percent higher on Monday.
Brégier said that it was an "historic" day for the company and was the culmination of 10 years of hard work. The plane boasts the ability to use 25 percent less fuel than similar aircraft of its size.
He also played down comments made earlier in the month from Airbus Group CEO, Tom Enders, which had led to speculation that it might be looking to discontinue the A380 model. Brégier said the A380 is a "fantastic" aircraft and the company will continue to support it.
Brégier also remained bullish on the outlook for plane manufacturers following the dramatic drop in the price of oil. He believes that carriers would continue to buy new jets and seek further fuel efficiency gains, despite the fall in price. He added that 50 percent of carriers' costs are currently from fuel, which meant that they would see more revenues and thus more cash to spend on planes.
"(The oil price) is probably positive, it will stabilize later on. It is very good for the aircraft manufacturers," he said.
Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that "1,000" refers to the number of net orders Airbus has received this year.
—CNBC's Phil Han contributed to this article.