Airbus parent EADS reported firstquarter net income of €170 million (US$232 million), down 40 per cent from €285 million a year earlier, as net commercial aircraft orders dropped dramatically year-on-year to eight compared to 395 in last year’s firstquarter.

First-quarter revenue fell 14 per cent to €8.47 billion and EBIT fell 70 per cent to €232 million. Airbus’s revenue declined 21 per cent to €5.88 billion as it delivered 116 aircraft compared to 123 in the year-ago period. EBIT dropped 86 per cent to €89 million owing in part to “negative foreign exchange impacts.”

The company is placing its focus on aircraft deliveries this year instead of new orders, Airbus CEO Tom Enders said, noting that order deferrals are a challenge to manage. “Cancellation of an aircraft order is actually not very typical in our business” because airlines risk losing their pre-delivery payment, he explained. “It is more difficult for us to defer deliveries. This has to be very carefully managed.”