Airbus' Order Backlog Increasing Further During the First Six Months of 2008

During the six-month period from January to June 2008, Airbus achieved a healthy gross order total of 525 aircraft units and a leading market share of 52 per cent. In dollar terms, this represents a total value of $62bn, based on current list prices. The orders during this period comprise 335 A320 Family aircraft, 105 A330s, 82 A350s and three A380s.>> Taking into account some cancellations and transfers to the all-new A350, the 487 net orders to June this year is almost double the number of deliveries occurring in the same period, thus expanding Airbus order backlog by some 242 aircraft.>> Moreover, with additional orders to be expected during the Farnborough Air Show and beyond, this backlog will increase significantly. Overall, the number of outstanding orders for Airbus aircraft has now reached almost 3,700, translating into an equivalent of around six years production.>> The A320 single-aisle Family consistently captures about half of all orders in its market segment. In 2008, during the six months to June, the Family gained 335 gross orders, representing about 64 per cent of all new Airbus aircraft orders in terms of units. To date there are more than 2,600 A320 Family aircraft in the outstanding order backlog. This shows that the A320 Family, which benefits from a continuous improvement programme so that it remains the most efficient product in this size category, remains very much in demand for years to come.>> Moving up in size to the medium-to-long-range twin-aisle category, the highly cost-efficient A330, which has no direct competitor in production today, continues to be a strong seller, having already earned 105 orders in 2008 to the end of June.