Airbus confident of 100 new orders for A350 jet at Paris Air Show

Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard on Tuesday said he is expecting at least 100 new orders for the European plane maker's A350 airliner by the end of this week.

"Qatar has announced its choice for 60 A350s. A few weeks ago,US Airways announced its decision to buy 20, and almost a year ago,the Spanish carrier Air Europa announced a deal for 10 aircraft. So this is already 90 and more will come in the week so that we shall end above a hundred," Forgeard said at a news conference held at Le Bourget airport, north Paris.

The CEO said Airbus will spend some 4.35 billion euros on the A350, a long-distance, medium-capacity airliner.

With 90 percent of its manufactured parts being new, the jet carrying between 250 and 300 passengers will be available as of 2010 to compete with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which enters service in 2008, Airbus said in a press release.

Forgeard was appointed with German Tom Enders as joint-CEOs of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, which holds 80 percent of Airbus' shares.

Source: Xinhua