United Airlines scraps $1bn Airbus order

United Airlines has scrapped an order for 12 single-aisle jets from Airbus worth more than one billion dollars at catalogue prices. Based on an updated pricing list, an A319 now costs $85.8 million and an A320 $93.9 million. That would bring the value of the order for six A319s and six A320s to $1.078 billion. Airlines, however, routinely get a discount on catalogue prices when they purchase multiple units. "I can confirm that we dropped those orders," company spokeswoman Christen David told AFP. "We are continually evaluating our fleet needs and making adjustments to our order book as appropriate." Europe's Airbus beat US rival Boeing with record sales and orders last year but came second in terms of finished airliners delivered, according to company figures. Airbus said that in 2013, it took 1,503 net orders allowing for cancellations in a record for the industry as a whole. Boeing, in contrast, took 1,355 orders. Airbus also said that at the end of last year, it had record orders to build 5,559 aircraft, equivalent to eight years of production. Results published by Boeing last week showed that the US firm had a total order book for 5,080 aircraft. However, last year Airbus delivered 626 planes, trailing behind Boeing, which delivered 648 aircraft.