New Airbus plane takes off at Paris Air Show

A350 above Toulouse France

The Airbus next-generation A350 plane took centre stage at the Paris Air Show on Wednesday, winning multi-billion-dollar deals ahead of a much-anticipated possible fly-over.

The news comes just days after the new plane took to the skies in its first ever test flight on Friday, stealing the limelight before the start of the air show -- a key event where Airbus and Boeing compete fiercely for plane orders.

The European plane maker is currently ahead of its arch-rival at the show -- $53.2 billion in new plane orders or agreements for Airbus versus $45.2 billion for Boeing.

Air France-KLM on Wednesday confirmed an order for 25 A350 planes -- which make extensive use of lighter composite materials to reduce fuel costs -- in a deal worth $7.2 billion at catalogue prices.

Read more: New Airbus plane takes off at Paris Air Show | Bangkok Post: news