European planemaker Airbus predicted on Tuesday it would exceed 600 firm orders for 2007 after bagging 219 on the first day of the Paris air show.
The figure would be down from 790 net orders in 2006 when Airbus surrendered leadership of the global order race to Boeing and saw its market share fall to 43 percent, following delays in building its A380 superjumbo and redesigning the mid-sized A350.
It is the first 2007 orders forecast issued by Airbus -- it usually predicts only deliveries which are forecast at 440-450 this year, leaving Airbus on top of Boeing -- but reflects the firm's growing optimism as it recovers from a shaky start.
Sales chief John Leahy told reporters he expected Boeing to sell around the same number of planes this year for a total market of about 1,200 aircraft, with honors evenly split.
As of now, Airbus has 420 firm orders on its books including Monday's USD$45 billion bonanza, Leahy said, putting it close to Boeing's level before the show started -- 429 orders.
Airbus started the year at a slow pace as it sought to catch up with Boeing's successful 787 Dreamliner which dominated industry attention in 2006. But it began making inroads with more than 100 A350 XWB's, its rival model, sold on Monday.
Anxious to quell Boeing suggestions that the A350 has not been properly defined, Airbus gave a detailed explanation of its performance at an air show news conference and said it expected to identify risk-sharing partners in the summer to build it.
Airbus President Louis Gallois quipped at a news conference he would send a copy of the A350 brochure to Boeing Chief Executive James McNerney. The two were partners when Gallois worked for French aero engine Snecma and McNerney for GE.
"We have good relations. Unfortunately we don't speak much any more because of all the anti-trust issues," he said.
Airbus tried to turn the tables on Boeing by accusing its US rival of heavily discounting the 787 to reach its order tally of almost 600 jets, mirroring accusations which Boeing more usually makes about Airbus.
Leahy said airlines had told him the 787 was offering keener pricing on at least two recent deals. He acknowledged however that Airbus itself offers discounts against list price as part of what he called a launch price package for the A350.
"We are not ready to sacrifice price to get orders," Gallois said, adding, "It's an extremely competitive duopoly."
Airbus is finalizing a deal to firm up an order for a further 20 A350s from Singapore Airlines this week, an industry executive said, asking not to be named.
Meanwhile it was expected to announce up to USD$6 billion worth of orders for its older A330 wide-body model as early as Tuesday, including up to 15 passenger jets to Malaysia's Fly Asian Express, according to industry sources.
Other business could include A330-200F freighter planes, with US leasing company Intrepid first in line to firm up an order for 20 aircraft, having been the first airline to make a preliminary order for the newly launched model in January.
Leahy said he expected sales of the Airbus A330 and A340 family of planes -- the A330 with two engines and the A340 with four -- to exceed the record 119 reached in 2006.
Airbus also reaffirmed confidence in its A380 superjumbo after picking up three new firm orders from Qatar Airways and pledges for a further eight from Emirates.
