PARIS: Airbus appeared to take the lead in the order race with Boeing last month, leapfrogging its rival with confirmation of a major Latin American order as Boeing prepared to issue its own final data for the first four months of 2015.
The European planemaker won orders for 229 aircraft between January and April and delivered 196 planes to customers.
After cancellations, net orders totalled 209 aircraft, Airbus said on Thursday. Boeing started the year with a lead against Airbus in both orders and deliveries in the first quarter.
Between the start of the year and April 28, the latest period for which data is available, Boeing sold 139 aircraft, or a net total of 114 after 25 cancellations. Colombian carrier Avianca this week firmed up an order for 100 narrowbody Airbus jets in a $10 billion deal first announced in February.
The order includes 98 A320neo and 2 A319neo, Airbus monthly order figures showed. Deliveries of 7 A380 superjumbos included the 159th delivery since the double-decker entered service in 2007.
Last month's handover to Etihad Airways, coinciding with the tenth anniversary since the world's largest airliner first took flight, took A380 deliveries beyond the half-way point compared with the total number of jets sold.
Airbus is studying whether to revamp the A380 with newer engines to boost sales, which have flagged as airlines turn to two-engined jets, but says it is confident of replenishing the order pipeline soon.
Leasing partner Amedeo has said it also sees two potential customers in 2015.
The head of Qatar Airways on Wednesday said he would not order more A380s without a "rethink" on the aircraft by Airbus, adding that any revamp of the existing model would need to generate 10-15 percent fuel savings.
However, he praised the performance of the newer twin-engined A350, saying it was "head and shoulders" above Boeing's 787, which was only now coming out of early teething problems.
Qatar is the only A350 operator so far, with two in service. It operates the Boeing 787 and has ordered the larger 777-9X.
Airbus said it had not delivered an A350 in April, leaving one delivery so far this year. It is targeting around 15 deliveries by end-year as it ramps up production of the jet.
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