France-based planemaker Airbus said on Friday it had sold 22 aircraft in August, bringing its year total to 222, well behind rival Boeing Co which has booked 548.

The US company booked 30 new orders in August.

It is being helped by its new 787 aircraft due in 2008 which is upstaging Airbus's mid-sized models and putting Airbus's five-year reign as top seller at risk.

Airbus said it had taken orders for 13 single-aisle planes from its A320 series as well as for 9 wide-body A330-200 aircraft. These included eight sold to leasing companies and one to Air Mauritius.

The planemaker announced deals for 182 planes at the Farnborough, England air show in July but plane orders traditionally take months to finalise.

One deal yet to be confirmed is from Singapore Airlines, which signed a tentative contract for 20 of Airbus's new A350 XWB aircraft and an additional nine A380 superjumbos at Farnborough.

Airbus continues to lead its US rival in deliveries, which is when manufacturers receive the bulk of their payment for planes, with 283 aircraft delivered as of the end of August against 258 for Boeing.

UK defence firm BAE Systems said this week its board had backed plans to sell its 20 percent stake in Airbus to Franco-German firm EADS, which owns the rest.

In explaining its desire to sell out of the company, BAE said an audit of the planemaker had revealed that "Airbus is facing a challenging short to medium-term outlook".