Airbus price rise

Planemaker Airbus has raised the price of its aircraft by an average of 5.8 % to counteract the effects of a weak dollar and rising material costs. In a statement, the company said the increase, which applied from the beginning of January, includes all new aircraft. It is the first price increase by the company in two years. "We have tried to keep prices down for as long as we can," said John Leahy, chief operating officer at Airbus. "However, even with record aircraft deliveries and impressive orders in recent years, the continuing strength of the euro against the US dollar and the ongoing financial challenges ahead have forced us to take action," he said. Earlier this month, Airbus said it delivered 498 aircraft to customers in 2009 - 15 than in 2008. This meant it beat rival Boeing in terms of deliveries for the seventh year running, according to Airbus. At the end of 2009 , Airbus had a total order backlog of almost 3 ,500 aircraft and an order book worth $437 bn.