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Donauwoerth: European planemaker Airbus came neck-and-neck in the race for 2007 aircraft orders with arch-rival Boeing, Airbus parent EADS said on Thursday.
Boeing last week reported an industry record of 1,413 firm commercial plane orders, setting up a photo-finish with Airbus.
EADS chief executive Louis Gallois declined to give exact figures before an Airbus announcement next week, but said it did not matter which company ended up with the order trophy.
"Airbus will be approximately the same as Boeing. [Airbus CEO] Tom Enders will give you the precise figure next week, but it is in any case clearly the best performance in our history," Gallois said.
Estimated value
He estimated Airbus had notched up orders worth some 125 billion euros ($183 billion) at catalogue prices in 2007. Airbus catalogue prices are in dollars.
Gallois also said the 2007 tally did not take into account 150 planes sold to China in a preliminary deal in October, nor a major order signed in the first week of January.
The China aircraft were part of a framework accord reached during a visit to Beijing by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Boeing's net total of 1,413 aircraft sales in 2007 -which excludes orders that were subsequently cancelled and takes account of orders converted into different plane models - beats its previous record of 1,044 in 2006 and tops Airbus's industry record of 1,055 net orders in 2005.
Total
Airbus had 1,204 gross orders at the end of Nov-ember 2007, not adjusted for cancellations or conversions.
The EADS CEO's remarks confirmed that between them, Boeing and Airbus are set to post about 2,800 orders for 2007, a record smashing the previous best of 2,057 net orders in 2005.
The massive tally marks the third year of a boom in commercial plane sales.
However oil prices touching $100 a barrel and US economic jitters have begun to raise doubts over growth in air traffic. This has prompted industry fears that some airlines could postpone future investment in new aircraft at a time when the industry has been expecting a downturn in orders.
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