LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European aircraft maker Airbus held on to the top spot for global jet deliveries for the sixth year running in 2008 but warned that orders could dip below deliveries this year as airlines struggle to find financing and consumers and companies cut down on air travel.

At its annual press conference in Toulouse, Airbus said it delivered a record 483 planes in 2008, or 30 more than the previous year. It also beat U.S. rival Boeing Co. BA on net orders, with 777 under its belt worth $100 billion at list prices. Still, that was down 42% compared to 2007 and suggests the end of a three-year aviation boom.

Airbus suffered 123 cancellations this year but said they had more to do with the record high fuel prices in the first half of the year, which led to the bankruptcy of an airline with 65 planes on order, than with the effect of the credit crunch. Another 30 of the cancellations were for the A350, which was later revamped into the A350 XWB.

EADS (005730) shares rose 1.8% in Paris afternoon trading.

Meanwhile rival Boeing was hit with a raft of issues this year, including a 58-day strike by its machinists. Partly as a result of the strike, Boeing delivered just 375 aircraft this year, down 15%. It sold 662, down 53%, hurt by repeated delays to the 787 Dreamliner.

The company last week announced 4,500 job cuts in its commercial airplane division. See full story.

Airbus deliveries to dip below orders in 2009

Airbus Chief Executive Thomas Enders predicted that while deliveries in 2009 would be roughly at the same level as in 2008, orders would fall below that threshold.

"It will be a soft year for aircraft orders," he said.

He also cut the forecast for A380 deliveries in 2009 to 18 from 21, after recently warning the target might be missed by "a couple" of planes. On Thursday though, the company announced a provisional order for two of the superjumbos from Air Austral. Airbus sees about 10 new orders for the plane in 2009.

Perhaps the biggest declines in orders will be in the corporate jet segment.

"In a recession a corporate jet tends not to be the first thing that the board wants to approve for the CEO," said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer for customers.

In the past, Airbus has been quite successful selling aircraft to companies for corporate use but also to wealthy individuals in the Middle East and Russia in particular.

Enders said the company would continue to try to help suppliers with financing, but reiterated it was not a "charity organization" and that the lending would happen on a very "selective and discreet"

As far as production is concerned, Airbus said it was ready to make adjustments if necessary, just as EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois had hinted on Tuesday.

See full story.

But programs head Tom Williams insisted that any adjustment would be gradual.

"We were cautious on the way up and we will be cautious on the way down," he said, referring to the cyclical nature of the aircraft business.