Boeing, the world’s largest plane maker, has leapt back into profit in the third quarter of 2010 following renewed interest globally in new bookings.

The aerospace giant recorded a net profit of $837 million during the three months to September, after a net loss of $1.56 billion in the same period last year. It also booked 221 new planes over the period.

The profit comes despite its highly-anticipated new plane, the 787 Dreamliner, continuing to suffer hold-ups. Much of last year’s loss was due to a one-off charge because of delays to new planes.

Boeing’s commercial aircraft division has orders for 3,400 aircraft, worth $255bn, including 847 orders for the Dreamliner. The first 787 plane is now scheduled for delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airlines in the first quarter of 2011.

Revenue rose 11 percent higher to $8.7bn. But the defence division fared less well, with revenue falling 6 percent to $8.2bn as states worldwide slash their defence budgets.

Boeing shares were the best performer on the Dow Jones index constituents, rising by more than 3 percent to close at $71.36.

The dip in performance from defence was viewed as outweighed by the improvement in commercial aircraft orders.