Airbus narrows plane order gap with Boeing

Airbus virtually closed the gap with Boeing in the intense battle for airliner orders in July after booking about half of the 197 firm sales unveiled at last month's Farnborough Airshow, according to the latest data from both cosmpanies.

Amid a broad slowdown in airline purchases, the European plane maker said it had sold 373 jets between January and July, or 323 after adjusting for cancellations.

That compares with 383 airplane sales, or 333 after cancellations, notched up by U.S. rival Boeing.

Despite the fanfare over an order for 100 Airbus jets from AirAsia, announced as a firm order at last month's UK air show, that transaction did not make it into the latest monthly order tally released by Airbus on Thursday.

A spokeswoman said paperwork for the deal, which if completed would put Airbus ahead, was still being finalized.

The tallies come as both plane makers are struggling to book new sales in a market that is somewhat oversupplied with jets, especially larger widebody models, industry experts said.

A slowdown in sales has raised some questions about whether they will stick with plans to boost output later in the decade.

While Boeing remains ahead by a whisker in the race for new orders, it maintains a solid lead on deliveries, handing over 432 jets in the first seven months of the year.

Airbus delivered 339 jets as it suffered delays in delivering its latest model, the revamped A320neo narrow-body jet, which has been held up by problems with Pratt & Whitney engines.

Airbus delivered three of the jets in July, including two powered by Pratt & Whitney and the first to be delivered with alternative engines from CFM International.

So far this year Airbus has delivered 11 A320neos and 15 of its widebody A350s, another model suffering delays due in part to problems with suppliers. It aims to deliver 50 A350s this year.