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New twist in Airbus share probe ... Airbus has said it expects orders for new aircraft to almost halve this year.
Airbus said it was likely to sell 700 planes in 2008, down from a record 1,341 orders last year.
The orders are expected to include 30 A380 superjumbos and more than 100 A350s, the company said.
Airbus' chief salesman John Leahy said the market for new planes was cooling off, but added that the plane maker had an order backlog of 3,600 planes.
"The market, in terms of new orders, will be going down," Mr Leahy said at the Singapore Air Show.
"We have a record backlog so I would expect to see fewer and fewer orders as the market does cool off a bit."
Sticky patch
Airbus has faced problems recently with costly production problems affecting its flagship jumbo A380, the world's largest passenger plane, which made its first commercial flight late in 2007.
In addition, its earnings have suffered as a result of the weak US dollar.
It conceded defeat to Boeing in the battle for new orders during 2007, but said it had beaten its US rival on deliveries.
Airbus reported 1,341 net new orders of commercial aircraft, 72 less than Boeing. However, Airbus delivered 453 aircraft compared with Boeing's 441.
(BBC)
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