Airbus will resist engaging in a price war to sell the final slots for the regular A320 before production switches to the re-engined A320neo.

The airframer's parent, EADS, says the number of outstanding slots for the type is below 300.

"We want to sell [these] at a reasonable price and margin," said EADS chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm, speaking during the company's annual conference in Berlin.

He says the company has been "satisfied" with pricing levels and that the number of remaining A320 slots is a "pretty remote number".

Wilhelm acknowledges that, from behaviour seen in the market, holding out completely would not necessarily be "rational".

But he says: "We definitely won't move into what some might call a price war."

Wilhelm adds that Airbus achieved "healthy" pricing on the A320neo in 2012, with customers paying a premium for the aircraft.

EADS chief Tom Enders similarly dismisses suggestions of a price war, stating that Boeing's rival 737 Max is "desperately trying to catch up" with the A320neo. "It creates some tension in the market," he says.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news