Toulouse, France - European aircraft manufacturer Airbus beat out rival Boeing in 2008 by booking 777 orders for its aircraft, compared to 662 registered by its US competitor, Airbus head Thomas Enders said on Thursday.

The 777 orders have an approximate value of 100 billion dollars. In addition, Airbus delivered 483 aircraft last year, surpassing its goal for the year of 470 as well as the 375 aircraft delivered in 2008 by Boeing, which was handicapped by a crippling strike.

However, Enders said that 2009 was likely to be a "horrible" year in which the global recession could lead to the number of orders slipping below the number of aircraft delivered for the first time since 2003.

This year is also expected to see Airbus deliver fewer A380 superjumbo aircraft to its customers than planned because of continued problems with setting up an assembly-line production for the world's largest commercial airliner.

"We underestimated the difficulties," Enders admitted. Digital models developed for series production deviated slightly from the practical operation, he said.

Instead of the 21 A380s scheduled for delivery to its customers in 2009, only 18 are now expected to be handed over. (dpa)