Airbus Deliveries To Stay Flat In 2009

Aerospace group EADS expects its commercial planemaking arm Airbus to deliver about the same number of planes in 2009 as last year, chief executive Louis Gallois said on Friday.

Gallois told a news conference in Hanoi that it was difficult to predict 2010 deliveries now, but things should be clearer in the second half of this year.

"For 2009 we expect to deliver the same number of airplanes as last year... plus or minus a couple of airplanes," Gallois said. Airbus delivered 482 planes last year.

Next year will be a "crucial year for the crisis, we will see the depth of the crisis". But he added he had no visibility yet on the prospects for 2010.

"I hope this crisis is not too deep, but we are prepared to face all scenarios," he said.

Both Airbus and rival Boeing have suffered as travel demand dries up in the recession and airlines cancel orders.

The head of global airlines body IATA said on Thursday that plane orders could fall 30 percent in 2010.

"We are monitoring the market every week... in the second part of the year we will have greater visibility of the market for 2010," Gallois said.

Gallois said he was in the Vietnamese capital to meet officials and discuss future business there, including the possible eventual manufacture of spare parts or assembly.