Airbus Chief Operating Officer-Customers John Leahy says the target for the A380 is still 30 additional orders by the end of this year. “We have sold four so far this year [to Transaero], so it gets more difficult and the market is a little bit slow,” he notes.

However, Airbus is talking to several existing customers about repeat orders that could materialize later in the year. In his view, the biggest factor affecting demand is uncertainty about the global economic environment, but issues with wing cracks and discussions about fixes in the first half of the year “have also slowed down sales campaigns.”

Airbus this year also hopes to sell 300 of the current A320 variant, a goal Leahy says is important to keep production of the type at a sufficient level to allow for an easy transition to the A320NEO. The first NEO is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2015.

Leahy says Airbus needs to resolve the dispute with China over the European emissions trading system by the end of the year if Airbus is to go ahead with its planned production ramp-up for the A330 to 11 per month.