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AIRBUS is set to confirm that after five years, it has lost the lead in aircraft orders to its US rival Boeing, The Times newspaper reports today.
The grim news emerges as the embattled European aircraft manufacturer collates its half-year order book at its headquarters in Toulouse, southwest France, the London paper says.
"A yawning gap between the two companies will become apparent," it says in its lead business story. Airbus has "definitive orders" for 145 to 150 aircraft so far this year, against 445 for Boeing, it says.
"There is no doubt Airbus is struggling and it looks almost certain to lose out to Boeing over 12 months," an unidentified analyst in London's City financial district was quoted as saying.
New executives at Airbus and its biggest stakeholder EADS had vowed on Monday to get to the heart of their problems, after it emerged in mid-June that delivery of its new Airbus A380 double-decker airliner would be seriously delayed.
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