Last year looks to have been a banner year for Boeing, as the leading aircraft manufacturer reported a record 1,413 orders for planes. The Seattle based firm’s private aircraft division, Boeing Business Jets, had a record year with 25 orders for the modified luxury conversions.

The identities of the planes’ buyers are undisclosed, but are thought to include several heads of state, major corporations and a sprinkling of royal families and private individuals. Included in this number are five VIP versions of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, and one VIP version of its 747-8 jumbo jet.

Boeing’s European rival, Airbus, had similar success in 2007, coming in just behind Boeing with 1,341 orders for the year. Although figures for private sales are not available at present, it is thought that Airbus’s line of Prestige corporate jetliners is well represented among the orders, with the sale of an A380 Flying Palace to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal certainly representing the manufacturer’s biggest coup.

Though something of a minnow compared to the North American and European giants, Brazil-based jet manufacturer Embraer continued the upward trend by delivering 35 of its super mid-size Legacy 600 jets to private customers in 2007. More than a third of these were completed during a strong surge in the fourth quarter.

With the high price of oil looming prospect of a credit squeeze, analysts have downgraded their expectations for airliner sales in 2008. Nevertheless, Boeing rung in the new year by announcing another private order for a 747-8 VIP last week, and the current backlog of orders should keep their factories busy until 2011. Whether or not Boeing, Airbus and Embraer can keep up the unprecedented private orders in 2008, one thing is for sure; the age of the large private jet has fully arrived.