Airbus extends lead over Boeing with 415 airplane sales in October

Airbus had 415 airplane orders in October, including its largest ever from a single airline, extending a wide lead over Boeing, which has been hit by the grounding of its 737 MAX.

The European planemaker also announced on Thursday deals including 12 orders for its A330neo passenger jet from an unidentified buyer.

The Airbus deals, including a record order for 300 aircraft from India's IndiGo announced last week, brought the January-October total to 718 aircraft or a net 542 after cancellations.

Boeing has reported 170 orders through end-September, the latest period for which data is available, or a net total of 54 after cancellations.

After an accounting adjustment representing jets ordered in previous years but now thought unlikely to be delivered, Boeing's net total sank to a negative 84 airplanes.

Airbus, which last week cut its annual delivery target by 2-3% to 860 aircraft, said it had delivered 648 aircraft in the first 10 months of 2019.