In rough weather

Paris, July 10 (Reuters): Airbus orders plunged by more than half in the first six months of the year as confusion over its product range robbed the company of wide-body sales throughout the second quarter, new figures showed on Monday.

The European planemaker, which is reeling from production difficulties and a recent management shake-up, said it had sold 117 aircraft between January and June, down from 276 in the same period last year.

Deliveries, however, rose to 219 planes from 189.

Airbus has been lagging behind rival Boeing for some months as airlines wait for a re-launch of the long-range twinjet A350, which has been heavily outsold by the Boeing 787.

Airbus received orders for just 21 of these twin-aisle models during the first half, including 13 for the mooted A350 which is being re-designed, meaning the company may be forced to renegotiate these deals.

Airbus hopes to launch a new version of the A350 that also addresses slow sales of the four-engine A340 before next week’s Farnborough Air Show.

It has not sold any of its wide-body aircraft, the A330/340/350 family, nor the twice-delayed A380 superjumbo since March, according to Airbus figures.

The company has sold 96 single-aisle planes so far this year.

In the nearest available comparison for Boeing first-half sales, the company says it had 480 net orders in 2006 as of July 5. First-half deliveries stood at 195 jets.

In the first half of 2005 Boeing sold 441 aircraft and delivered 155.