Airbus Group has said it is in negotiations to sell as many as 32 A380 superjumbos as the European aircraft manufacturer seeks to break a sales drought that has been eating into the production backlog and threatening the long-term future of its flagship model.

Two potential customers are actively looking at ordering the double-decker, Airbus sales chief John Leahy said yesterday at the Dubai Air Show, with one interested in as many as 20 aircraft and the other in between 10 to 12. Both potential customers are airlines, he said.

While the orders could be secured this year, they “won’t turn into a pumpkin” if that’s not the case and could equally be signed in 2016, Mr Leahy said.

Airbus does not expect to announce orders for the world's biggest passenger aircraft at the biennial Dubai expo, according to the executive, who conjured up a contract for 50 A380s from local carrier Emirates at the last show in 2013, stealing the headlines from Boeing's new 777X.

Royal Air Maroc and Saudi Arabian Airlines have said they are interested in the superjumbo, which has a list price of $428 million (€399 million) and which Airbus once suggested would dominate long-haul travel for decades.

– (Bloomberg)