PARIS - Airbus is poised to announce around 100 orders for its new A350 plane - its response to the Boeing 787 - at the Paris air show in mid-June, La Tribune newspaper said in its Thursday edition.
The French economic daily said that among the companies which were placing orders for the A350 were Middle Eastern carriers, in particular Qatar Airways, which is expected to order around 60 planes.
Airbus is hoping to clock up some 200 firm orders by the end of the year for its A350 plane, which is a more sophisticated version of its A330, but with modifications to improve range.
Boeing has so far registered 261 orders for its 787, which is to be in service in 2008. Airbus currently only has 10 firm orders for the A350, which is expected to be in service by 2010.
Earlier on Wednesday Airbus said it was up to six months behind schedule in delivering its new superjumbo A380 aircraft to airlines due to production problems, a delay that could entail financial penalties.
06/01/2005 20:13 GMT