Japan Airlines Corp may buy Airbus's mid-size A350XWB planes following production delays to Boeing Co's new 787 Dreamliner, two company sources told Reuters.

Boeing faces increasing customer ire after announcing last month a second delay for the 787, pushing first deliveries back to early 2009, about nine months behind schedule. The industry has been watching to see if any airlines would switch to Airbus.

JAL, one of Boeing's most loyal customers, had planned to buy 35 787 Dreamliners with an option for a further 20, hoping to cut costs on parts replacement, maintenance and pilot training by focusing its resources on one aircraft. But it could be having second thoughts.

"The risk of procuring from one firm for our next-generation planes is large. We should procure from more than one," said a JAL executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The sources did not say how many planes JAL might buy from Airbus, a unit of European aerospace company EADS.

"We have always been studying our prospective fleet, including but not exclusively the A350. But nothing has been decided," JAL spokesman Hisanori Iizuka said.

Boeing's delays have added to the problems facing JAL, which lost more than 63 billion yen (US$587 million) in the last two business years, hit particularly hard by high oil prices because of its ageing fleet.

The airline embarked on sweeping restructuring last year focused on renewing its fleet with smaller planes like the 787 to improve fuel efficiency, reducing jobs, overhauling its pension system and selling non-core assets.