(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-16 21:10

Toulouse -- Airbus said Wednesday it trailed Boeing Co. in logging new orders last year by a total of 72 civilian jets, but beat its US rival in terms of deliveries.

The European planemaker also projected that its 2008 orders will exceed deliveries, of which it has scheduled over 470. The company, which has been through a rough patch in recent years, also said it beat its internal targets for costs savings in 2007.

Airbus reported a record 1,341 net orders for 2007, compared with 1,413 for Boeing.

The Airbus orders were mostly for passenger jets, but included freighters, too. Airbus did not give a monetary value for the orders, which would be worth US$157.1 billion at catalog prices. Airlines usually negotiate substantial discounts to the list price.

In terms of deliveries, Airbus beat Boeing by 453-441 in 2007. It said it delivered 19 more jets than in 2006, including the handing over to Singapore Airlines of the first superjumbo A380, the world's biggest passenger jet that has suffered costly production problems and delays.

Jet sales are expected to slow considerably for both Airbus and Boeing in 2008. Airbus forecast that its orders will exceed deliveries, of which it has scheduled over 470.

But planemakers will be cushioned from the slowdown by bulging order books that will take several years to fill. Airbus said at the end of last year it had a backlog of 3,421 aircraft, representing six years of production at steadily increasing rates.

"2007 was a challenging but also successful year for Airbus," Chief Executive Thomas Enders said in a statement. "2008 will be as challenging on all fronts."

Airbus ceded the top sales spot to Boeing in 2006 after the US planemaker introduced a new plane, the 787 Dreamliner, restructured its sales team so that was freed to offer discounts.

Airbus, in contrast, was hampered by a series of increasingly worrying announcements, beginning June 2005 which revealed botched management of the A380 superjumbo, delaying delivery by almost two years and slashing profit at parent company EADS.

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