By Edward James/Singapore

SINGAPORE (February 23, 2000) - Airbus Industrie expects to sell at least 100 aircraft this year in the Asian region, says vice president- commercial John Leahy.

And buoyed by the bullish forecasts of increased GDP and record sales of Airbus aircraft, Leahy said that the A3XX will be launched by December with the first airline delivery in 2005.

However, Airbus is not opting for a rapid ramping up of production, suggesting instead customers are prepared to wait for their aircraft.

Last year Airbus delivered 294 aircraft and production will be increased slowly to 350. The declared backlog is 1,445 aircraft worth $100 billion but some orders are in doubt, say analysts.

All Nippon Airways is listed for five A340-300s, but airline sources say the order is canceled. Meanwhile analysts say that some parts of the large South American airline group order last year from Tam and Lan Chile remain in doubt.

Responding to claims of discounting, Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard told AeroWorldNet that margins were in fact up.

"Average unit revenue for new contracts in 1999 was up 8% for single aisle aircraft and 3% for widebodies. And we expect margins to continue to grow as more production efficiencies work through the system," he said.

In the longer term, Forgeard said that he expected Asia Pacific to account for 4,300 aircraft worth $450 billion over the next 20 years, accounting for one-third of the world's required airline seats.