AIRSHOW-UPDATE 1-Airbus sees plane orders halving this year

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SINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Airbus (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday it expects orders for new aircraft to halve to around 700 this year after a record order intake in 2007 took its backlog to 3,600 planes.

Last month, Airbus, owned by European aerospace group EADS, reported 2007 orders for 1,341 aircraft. But the Toulouse-based company fell behind rival Boeing (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which had 1,413 orders.

"Because of the high orders last year we have a pretty good backlog of 3,600 aircraft," Airbus chief Tom Enders told a news conference at the Singapore Airshow.

The company expects to receive more than 100 orders for its new A350 XWB widebody plane, chief salesman John Leahy told reporters. The order book for the A350 stands at 310 planes from 15 customers.

Leahy said he expected to receive 30 orders for the A380 superjumbo this year, including the three received this week from Korean Air Lines (003490.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in addition to five ordered in 2003.

Enders also said Airbus was carefully studying delays for Boeing's B787 Dreamliner, delivery of which has been repeatedly postponed. (Reporting by Jan Dahinten and Ovais Subhani, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)