The number of orders taken by plane-making company Airbus, whose aircraft wings are built in the UK, has plunged so far this year, it was revealed today.
Toulouse-based Airbus, in which UK company BAE Systems has a 20% stake, had 117 orders in the first six months of 2006 compared with 276 in the January-June 2005 period.
In contrast, Airbus's American rival Boeing had 480 aircraft orders in the first half of this year - up from 441 in the first six months of last year.
In the January-June 2006 period, Airbus had only 21 orders for its twin-aisle models, including 13 for the A350 which is facing a new design and which is in competition with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
Airbus has not taken any orders so far this year for its new 555-seater A380 superjumbo, which is set to be the star performer at next week's Farnborough Air Show.
Airbus has been forced to announce production delays for the A380 and the company has been rocked by the recent resignation of two top managers.
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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