Airbus Books 37 Aircraft Orders in May
06/07/2012| 12:30pm US/Eastern
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-May's order intake was 37 jets, of which 36 were for Air Lease Corp
-Net orders for first five months totalled 132
-No new orders for wide-bodied jets
(Recasts, adds detail)
By David Pearson
European aircraft-maker Airbus said new orders for its passenger jets rose sharply in May from the year before due to a single 36-jet order from Air Lease Corp. (>> Air Lease Corp). But its order intake for the year to date remained well below that in the first five months of 2011 when demand for its more fuel-efficient A320 neo aircraft took off.
Airbus, owned by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (>> EADS), said it booked 37 orders in May compared with seven in the same month last year.
Year-to-date, the manufacturer, whose main rival is Boeing Co. (BA), said it has booked 149 orders compared with 176 in 2011.
After cancellations, Airbus's net orders so far this year stand at 132 compared with 97 last year.
However, the plane maker last month said it is considering increasing production of its A320 range more slowly than initially planned because of growing economic uncertainty and concerns its suppliers might not be able to keep up with future increases in production.
Air Lease Corp. made a non-binding commitment to buy the new version of Airbus's A320 workhorse, equipped more more efficient engines, a year ago which it has now firmed up.
Airbus booked no orders for its wide-bodied aircraft last month though it has orders for 16 medium-to-long range A330s, six orders for the future A350 wide-body jetliner, but none for the double-decker A380 superjumbo.
(Inti Landauro contributed to this article)
-Write to David Pearson at david.pearson@dowjones.com
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