Airbus still top planemaker

European planemaking company Airbus kept its position as number one aircraft manufacturer last year, official figures out today confirmed.

Airbus, in which UK company BAE Systems has a 20% stake, delivered 320 planes in 2004.

The total exceeded Airbus’s own expectation of 305 “at best” and comfortably surpassed the figure of 285 delivered by big American rival Boeing.

Airbus said its 320 deliveries made up 53% of all deliveries of planes of more than 100 seats and led to a turnover of slightly over €20bn (£14bn).

Airbus also had 370 new firm orders in 2004. These were worth $34bn (€26bn/£18bn).

Airbus president and chief executive Noel Forgeard said: “These results are very encouraging and confirm that the market is slowly recovering from the downturn of the first half of the decade.”

He went on: “We are very confident in the long-expected growth of the air travel industry, which needs seats to cope with the ever-increasing demand for air transportation.

“These results also clearly reflect the popularity of the Airbus product line, which is unquestionably established as the leader in all market segments.”

Airbus now has 139 firm orders from 13 customers for its new 555-seater A380 superjumbo which is being officially revealed in a lavish ceremony in Toulouse, France, next week.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac will be among the guests at the A380 event. The wings for the A380 – and for all Airbus planes - are made in Britain by Airbus UK.

The first test flight of the A380 is scheduled soon and the plane will go into passenger service next year.

Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic is among the A380 customers although Virgin has put back delivery of its superjumbo fleet.

One of the reasons for the Virgin decision was the delay in getting Los Angeles airport ready to take the giant new plane.

However, a big improvement deal has now been struck at Los Angeles and work will begin to adapt the airport.

Last month Airbus also announced that it was going ahead with an A350 aircraft which will be a longer-range sister to the A330 series.