Airbus beats Boeing at air show

Airbus sales were still down sharply from the 2007 show

Plane maker Airbus has received more than five times the orders by value of US rival Boeing at the Dubai air show.

Airbus received $5.3bn (£3.2bn) in orders and letters of intent, against two orders worth $800m from Boeing.

"We had a good air show, better than many expected," said Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy.

But sales are down sharply from the last time the biennial show was held in 2007, when they received a combined $75bn in orders and letters of intent.

Mr Leahy said this was a reflection of the sluggish global economy.

"Our industry is not out of the woods yet. There will be a difficult winter ahead of us," he said.

"But with the deals we made in Dubai and the interest in our products that we saw here, spring may not be that far away."

Ethiopian Airlines placed an order for 12 Airbus A350-900s worth $2.9bn, and the plane maker also sold two A380 super-jumbos.

Boeing announced deals for 11 737-800 jetliners to Algeria's government-run Air Algerie and Tassili Airlines.

Organisers said this year's show had a total of $13bn in orders so far, less than a 10th of the $155bn of deals inked with all manufacturers at the 2007 show.