UPDATE 1-Planemakers race for wide-body orders in Asia showdown

(Adds senior air financing appointment)
June 11 (Reuters) - Airbus AIR.PA and Boeing BA.N are
battling for wide-body aircraft orders worth well over $10
billion as the clock ticks towards next week's Paris Airshow,
industry sources said.
The contests include a fight for business at Philippines
budget airline Cebu Air CEB.PS as Airbus seeks a new foothold
for its slow-selling A330neo airliner in the face of competition
from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
The budget carrier is leaning towards breaking its exclusive
ties with Airbus by selecting the Boeing 787 for its requirement
for up to 16 wide-body jets to be delivered in 2020 and 2021,
but negotiations are set to go down to the wire, the sources
said.
None of the parties agreed to comment on any confidential
aircraft negotiations.
Airbus is urgently looking for at least two new buyers for
the upgraded A330neo model, while wrestling with some glitches
and delays in production for the 250-300-seat aircraft.
Cebu Air has eight older versions of the A330 wide-body and
a fleet of smaller A320-family aircraft.
Airbus is close to signing a deal to sell A330neo jets to
Virgin Atlantic, Reuters reported last week. Asian carriers are looking to renew their long-haul fleets
as passenger demand remains robust despite a decline in cargo
traffic amid global trade tensions.
Boeing looks set to win an order for its upcoming 777X
long-haul jet from Korean Air 003490.KS , industry sources
said.
The South Korean flag carrier declined to comment.
Korean Air Chief Executive Walter Cho said last week a
decision on the future of the carrier's wide-body fleet would be
made "imminently", but declined further comment.
Airbus has meanwhile poached a senior air finance executive
from a unit of General Electric (GE) to oversee the
reorganisation of its sales financing operations in the latest
evidence of a shake-up under new management, people familiar
with the matter said.
Paul Meijers, until recently president of PK Air Finance, a
debt financing unit of GE's GE.N aviation leasing arm GECAS,
will be responsible for an enlarged operation combining the key
areas of asset management and leasing market operations.
Airbus declined to comment. Meijers, who had previously
worked for the European planemaker, could not be reached for
comment.