Airbus books 225 orders so far in 2009

PARIS: European planemaker Airbus says it took 225 jet orders in the first 11 months of 2009, offsetting 31 cancellations and putting it ahead of rival Boeing.

More than half of the new orders were for single-aisle A320s, which scored an order of 20 from Qatar Airlines. Another larger order came from budget carrier Wizz Air, for 50 A320s.

However, the planemaker registered only two orders for its A380 superjumbo.

In a statement Thursday, Airbus puts the total orders for the year through November 30 at 194 after cancellations.

That compares to just 93 orders for the same period for Airbus' main competitor, Chicago-based Boeing. The US planemaker tallied 204 orders for the 11 months through December 1 but also had 111 cancellations.