Airbus still confident despite rejection of two superjumbos

Air France had swapped its remaining orders for two Airbus A380 superjumbos for three smaller A350s, Airbus confirmed on Friday, highlighting a switch towards lighter twinjets.

The French carrier announced the swap last March and included it in its 2015 annual report, but the switchover appeared in Airbus’s published order list for January 2017.

An Airbus spokesman said the company recorded a cancellation once a formal agreement was signed. “In the case of the Air France A380 cancellation, this occurred in January.”

Air France was one of the first airlines to order the world’s largest passenger jet, placing 10 orders in 2001 and becoming its first European operator.

It ordered another two in 2007 as part of a compensation deal for delays caused by industrial problems.

Air France and several other carriers later cooled towards the double-decker as a new generation of smaller and lighter twinengined models came into service. In 2016, the drop in demand forced Airbus to announce a cut in production.

Qantas has indicated it would not take undelivered A380s, but British Airways has expressed interest in buying second-hand models soon to come on the market, a decade after the A380 entered service in 2007.

Emirates, by far the largest customer, is still a big advocate for the A380 but has deferred taking some deliveries as Gulf airlines face slower growth.

Airbus has said it was confident the aircraft would see fresh demand as congestion limited the number of slots at major hub airports and as relatively weak oil prices boosted its economics.

In February, Boeing, whose competing 747 jumbo is near the end of a long career, took two cancellations in the category.

In total, Airbus booked four new orders in January, or two after adjusting for the A380 cancellations, heralding what is expected to be a slower year across the industry as airlines continue to take stock after a longer-than-expected order cycle. It delivered 25 aircraft in January. Net orders fell 32% to 731 jets in 2016.

Boeing posted 11 orders and received two cancellations between the start of the year and January 24, which is the only period for which 2017 data are available.