Airbus Retains Order Lead Over Boeing With Late Sales Surge

Airbus Group SE booked 320 jetliner orders in December alone to rack up 731 sales for the year, extending its backlog and beating Boeing Co. In the last month of 2016 Airbus sold 98 new planes to Iran Air and 72 to Go Airlines India Pvt., while two other transactions saw 132 narrow-bodies purchased by buyers whose identities weren’t disclosed, according to figures released by the Toulouse, France-based company Wednesday.