Airbus retains order lead over Boeing with late sales surge

Airbus Group booked 320 jetliner orders in December alone to rack up 731 sales for the year, extending its backlog and beating Boeing. In the last month of 2016 Airbus sold 98 new planes to Iran Air and 72 to Go Airlines India, while two other transactions saw 132 narrow-bodies purchased by buyers whose identities weren’t disclosed, according to figures released by the company Wednesday. Airbus retained an order lead over Boeing it has held since 2012 after the US business last week said 2016 sales totaled 668 aircraft, net of cancellations. Both manufacturers saw new business dwindle last year as demand ebbed after a decade-long buying spree that’s built up record backlogs. Airbus sales chief John Leahy said he’s not concerned about the slowdown. “We are essentially sold out at this point,” Leahy said. <br/>