"The second half of the year in terms of deliveries and in particular free cash flow continues to be challenging," Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said in a statement. Airbus is nonetheless on course to be the world's largest planemaker in 2019 as US rival Boeing faces a longer-than-expected grounding of its 737 MAX, ordered by worldwide regulators in March in the wake of two fatal accidents. Boeing last week posted its largest-ever quarterly loss due to the grounding crisis. Airbus took 75 million euros in new charges in the second quarter related to the cost of winding down its A380 superjumbo programme after deciding to scrap output due to weak demand. Airbus took 90 million euros in other charges including compliance costs as it pursues a four-year-old investigation into the use of middlemen in aircraft and other sales. It said in its accounting notes that it was too early to assess liability for potential fines or other lawsuits.