Airbus reported its slowest month of the year on Wednesday, with orders for just six aircraft in May.

For the second month running, Airbus sold no airliners in its wide-body family to commercial carriers, though it did win an order for its A330-200 from an unidentified private buyer.

Airbus also sold five single-aisle jets in May, bringing the backlog for 2006 to 84 narrow-body aircraft and 21 wide-body jets, for a total of 105.

Deliveries for 2006 reached 179 planes by the end of May, Airbus said in a statement, up from 142 at the end of the previous month.

Airbus posted record orders of 1,111 aircraft in 2005, but together with rival Boeing is predicting a slowdown in orders this year.

Many airlines defer announcements of orders until the Farnborough air show in the UK in late July.