AIRSHOW - Airbus rules out price war to hit order goal

By Maria Sheahan

PARIS (Reuters) - European plane maker Airbus is not selling planes at bargain prices just to keep its order books filled, the EADS unit's chief executive said.

"We are not desperate. We have a huge order backlog," Tom Enders told journalists in remarks embargoed for Sunday.

Airbus sold 32 planes between January and the end of May.

For 2009, EADS expects it to receive "up to 300" orders for aircraft, but the company's focus is on maintaining deliveries rather than adding to an already robust order book, executives said ahead of the Paris Airshow at Le Bourget next week.

"We are aiming at 300, but it could be a number considerably lower," Enders said.

Both Airbus and rival Boeing have suffered as travel demand has dried up in the global economic downturn, prompting several airlines to cancel or defer orders.

Airbus is set to cut back its output of single-aisle airplanes to 34 from 36 and previously shelved plans to raise production to 40. It has also frozen plans to increase the A330/A340 production line from 8.5 units to 10 per month.

EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois said Airbus would be ready to produce larger numbers of planes as soon as the economic environment improved.