Reply #10: Airbus orders plunge to less than quarter of Boeing's

[ozymandius]

AIRBUS, the troubled European aircraft-maker, ran into more turbulence yesterday as it announced a sharp fall in new orders and shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against its parent company, EADS.

The company said it had booked 117 firm orders for passenger jets in the first half of 2006, down from 276 in the same period last year. Arch-rival Boeing reported 480 orders at the end of June - more than four times as many as Airbus over the same period.

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Noël Forgeard, co-chief executive of EADS, was also forced to resign after the A380 delays were announced just days after BAE, the British aeronautical and weapons group, said it planned to sell its 20 per cent stake in Airbus.

Yesterday's industry figures showed that orders for the Airbus A380 have also plunged to earth. No new orders have been added this year to the 159 already placed.

http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1007782006