Airbus says ‘We sold a lot too’

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, January 5, 2006

After Boeing made a big splash announcing 1,002 orders for 2005, Team Toulouse is telling reporters worldwide that its year-end totals will be close to that.

Reuters http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nPAC005620&imageid=top-news-view-2005-12-05-071448-eRPPISA%5B44%5D.jpg&cap=The%20tail%20of%20the%20Airbus%20A380%20is%20seen%20behind%20the%20Airbus%20A340%20at%20the%20Paris%20Air%20Show%20at%20the%202005%20Paris%20airshow.%20REUTERS/Regis%20Duvignau reports that:

Key Quote: “‘In terms of orders, Airbus has positioned itself at about the same magnitude as our competitor,’ (an unnamed spokeswoman) said, adding that speculation about an order gap between the two companies was ‘misleading.’”

The Associated Press http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20060106&ID=5397464 said that December was a big month for Airbus.

Key Quote: “Spokesman Rainer Ohler said the final tallies would be close, after a surge of business in December. ‘In terms of aircraft order intake, Airbus will be in a similar ballpark to its competitor,’ he said.”

And British news service AFX reminds us http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/01/06/afx2433112.html that Airbus did pick up at least one big order last month.

Key Quote: “At the end of November, the company had booked 687 firm orders. The company announced a series of orders last month, including a massive order from the Chinese government for 150 A320 planes, which will be used by six of the country’s airlines.”

Airbus plans to report its year-end numbers on Jan. 17, according to the reports.