Airbus sold 58 aircraft in June, the planemaker said, but Etihad Airways formally cancelled an order for an A340-600 long-distance jet that was written off during ground tests at Airbus headquarters in 2007, Reuters reported.
The fresh orders confirmed deals that were virtually all announced at the Paris Air Show and which leave the European planemaker well in front of its arch-rival Boeing for the first half of the year.
The larger-than-expected haul brought to 90 the number of planes Airbus has sold this year before cancellations.
But this is down sharply from 525 orders in the first half of 2008 as global aviation battles its way through recession.
Airbus is aiming for gross orders, before cancellations, of "up to 300" aircraft in 2009 but has acknowledged that this figure looks increasingly out of reach as the year progresses.
Airbus data showed that Abu Dhabi's Etihad had cancelled one of eight outstanding orders for long-distance A340-600 jetliners worth US$250 million each at list prices.
An Etihad spokesman said the cancelled order related to an aircraft which rammed into a concrete wall during engine testing at the planemaker's Toulouse headquarters in November 2007, injuring nine people inlcuding four seriously. |
