Airbus beats Boeing on orders tally at Farnborough Airshow

FARNBOROUGH, England (Reuters) - Airbus flew past rival Boeing to end the Farnborough Airshow with 279 orders and commitments worth $35 billion at list prices, but orders from both planemakers fell compared with the sister show in Paris last year.

Airbus, which had been behind Boeing leading up to the show, reported firm new deals for 197 aircraft worth $26.8 billion, led by demand for the largest version of its single-aisle A320.

Sales chief John Leahy said he was not worried about aviation markets overheating and rejected questions raised by rival Boeing over the quality of its order backlog.

Boeing said it had announced orders and commitments for 182 aircraft, though these included 42 that were already on its books and for which only the names of the buyers were disclosed.

Both companies said they were on track to meet their targets of matching orders with deliveries this year, as the industry braces for a period of flatter growth after a recent order boom.

Leahy acknowledged that orders were lower this year.

"Yes there is an orders cycle but deliveries have been very smooth," he said.

Boeing appeared to have won 19 firm orders at the show, where it also reported over 100 provisional new deals.

Airbus ended last year's show in Paris with orders and commitments for 421 aircraft worth $57 billion, against 331 aircraft worth $50.2 billion for Boeing.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sarah Young)