PARIS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said on Wednesday that it has won 125 net orders up to August this year, stretching a lead over its U.S. rival Boeing.

    Airbus has received 147 orders for new aircraft by August with only 22 being cancelled. It has delivered 320 planes, including five A380 jets and 262 A320 jets, in the past eight months, according the Airbus statistics.

    For Boeing, it has taken orders for 161 planes, but with 91 cancellations including 73 787 Dreamliners currently under development, and the net order intake is 70 jets. And it has delivered 307 jets.

    The world's airline industry has been hit hard by the financial crisis due to the erosion of demand and reductions of capacity.

    The World Trade Organization (WTO) has given an initial ruling on whether the European Union had illegally subsidized its aviation giant Airbus as alleged by the United States on Sept. 4 in Geneva.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis