Airbus has officially booked a deal to sell 98 aircraft to IranAir in December, part of a surge in new orders at the end of last year that allowed it to beat arch-rival Boeing in the race for new orders.

The European planemaker said on Wednesday that it won 731 net aircraft orders in 2016, including 321 in December alone.

Alongside the Iran deal, Airbus also posted an order for 72 A320neo aircraft from India's Go Air.

It also booked an order for 90 A320 family jets from an undisclosed customer, expected to be from Saudi carrier flynas, plus an order for 42 A320 family jets, expected to be from Shanghai-based Bank of Communications Financial Leasing.