Airbus to deliver 300 jets in '03

Europe's Airbus rides out September 11 terror storm

PARIS, France -- Airbus, the European passenger jet maker, said it would deliver 300 aircraft in 2003, at the upper end of previous forecast.

Analysts' had feared deliveries would decline as customers delay orders in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, which forced many airlines to ground aircraft as passenger numbers tumbled by at least a third.

Many analysts had predicted the jet maker -- the only competitor to Boeing of the U.S. -- to deliver between 250 and 270 planes next year.

Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard said at the Berlin air show in May that the company would deliver 300 aircraft this year and a "similar" number in 2003.

Airbus, which is 80 percent owned by European aerospace group EADS (PEAD), said it now plans to deliver 70 widebody airliners and 230 single-aisled aircraft.

Its 2003 prediction is at the upper end of its previous forecast, the company said. With 160 aircraft delivered by the end of June, it was "well on track" to deliver 300 aircraft this year, it added.

Market players had been awaiting the figures after EADS Chief Financial Officer Axel Arendt told analysts on May 17 that the company, which had previously not been able to provide solid predictions for 2003, would give its forecast for Airbus jet deliveries in June.

Arch-rival Boeing (BA) has said that it expects to deliver around 380 aircraft this year and between 275 and 300 next year, down from the 527 deliveries made in 2001.

Though the industry is struggling with losses, many airlines have seen passenger numbers pick up and are managing to fill planes.

Airbus delivered 325 planes in 2001 and expected before September 11 to ramp up production beyond 400 a year.

Shares in EADS rose 0.6 percent to 15.87 euros, while the Paris benchmark index, the CAC 40, lost 1.5 percent after Wall Street's latest decline.