European plane-maker Airbus hopes to win 20 orders for its A380 this year and is in talks with new airlines in India to sell the plane, the world's largest passenger aircraft, a senior executive said on Monday.
"We are talking to various airlines in India and around the world," John Leahy, chief operating officer (customers) of Airbus, told a news conference. "Our target is to have 20 incremental firm orders for the A380 this year from around the world. I certainly hope to have incremental orders from India as well."
The production of the A380 has been plagued by delays - it is now two years overdue - and has contributed to losses of billions of dollars at Airbus's parent company, Europe's EADS.
The Toulouse, France-headquartered Airbus has spent more than $10 billion on developing the A380 and said in March it had 156 orders from 14 customers. The first aircraft is set to enter service with Singapore Airlines in October. Designed to challenge Boeing Co's dominance in the market for very large aircraft, the A380 arrived in New Delhi on Sunday on the first stop of a world tour.