Airbus expects decline in new aircraft orders in 2009

HONG KONG: European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is expecting a sharp reduction in the number of new orders in 2009 as the global economy slows, the firm's chief operating officer said in Hong Kong on Thursday.

But John Leahy, who heads the company's sales side, said the company was currently facing a record backlog of orders that would see it through the next few years.

"Next year I think new aircraft orders will be substantially lower," he told reporters in Hong Kong following an airshow in China.

"There will, of course, be some cancellations, but I have a pad of overbookings," he added. Leahy said the firm had a backlog of 3,705 aircraft at the end of October, a record figure.

He said there had been some requests from airlines for financing help and some cancellations since the start of the year, but this was expected during the downturn.

Leahy said that its order book for the A380 superjumbos were full until the end of 2013.

Airlines across the world have reported disappointing passenger and cargo figures in the past few weeks, as the global slowdown begins to cut into business travel and exports.