PARIS - Airbus has shot ahead of Boeing (IW 500/16) in terms of net orders booked in the first four months of the year, taking almost twice as many, company data showed Tuesday.
Airbus, given a big boost by a deal last month with Turkish Airlines, said in a statement that it recorded 493 orders between January and April, compared with the 255 announced on Boeing's website.
The orders represent seven years of production, Airbus said.
The deal with Turkey's flag-carrier centers on Airbus' A320 medium-haul family of aircraft, mostly on the new fuel-efficient Neo versions, and includes firm orders for 82 planes and an option for 35 others, to be delivered by 2020.
During the period, the European airplane maker also said it had delivered 202 aircraft, a 10% increase compared with the same four months a year ago.
Boeing, which last year wrested back the title as the world's biggest aircraft maker from Airbus but which since the start of 2013 has had to cancel deliveries of its long-haul 787 carriers owing to battery problems, delivered 183 aircraft in the same period.
Boeing is expected to resume delivery of its 737s this month.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
