American Airlines has firmed part of its huge Airbus order, with the airframer listing its initial batch of 130 narrowbodies entirely as A321neo jets.
Confirmation of the agreement features in the latest Airbus backlog figures, which show that the airframer booked 145 sales in July. Airbus said that the American order - part of a broader deal for 260 Airbus narrowbodies - has conversion flexibility to other A320-family types.
American's order for A321neos accounted for overwhelming majority but Airbus also sealed agreements for eight A330-300s for Iberia and another four for Garuda Indonesia.
The three remaining aircraft were A330-200s for the organisation MTAD which handles military tankers.
Airbus's gross order total rises to 922 for the year, as a result of the bookings, with a net figure of 785 - far ahead of Boeing's net of 249 by 2 August. Boeing's figure also includes its initial share of the American order, 100 737s.
Airbus had delivered 298 aircraft by the end of July, the same level it achieved at this point in 2010.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
