Airbus posts record orders, ponders higher production

TOULOUSE, France: Airbus stands ready to increase output after winning an industry peak of 1,619 new airplane orders in 2013, as it seeks to turn a record backlog of almost nine years of plane production into hard profit.

The European planemaker reclaimed top spot in commercial orders from Boeing after repeatedly revising up its targets last year, but lost the delivery contest to its U.S. rival despite reaching an internal record of 626 deliveries.