Boeing and Airbus battle at Paris air show
Email Print Normal font Large font June 19, 2007 - 10:17AM
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AdvertisementAirbus racked up a series of big orders at the opening of the world's biggest air show today, stealing some early limelight from US rival Boeing.
With the manufacturers' intense competition again expected to be a dominant theme of the weeklong show at Le Bourget, north of Paris, both looked to make a splash from the get-go, with billions of euros worth of orders announced.
Airbus booked orders from US Airways, Qatar Airlines, Emirates and Jazeera Airways for a fleet of planes, including its problem-plagued A350 and superjumbo A380 models.
US Airways Group Inc snapped up 60 A320 single-aisle aircraft and 32 widebody aircraft. It also increased its previously announced order of 20 A350s by two to 22 A350 XWBs in both the 800 and larger 900 series configuration.
The A320s will replace Boeing 737-300/400s, which will be eliminated from the fleet, the carrier said. It expects delivery of the first A350-800 in 2014, as the North American launch customer for the fleet type.
Qatar ordered 80 A350 XWBs, three A380s and three A320 family aircraft. Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said the order for the A350s is worth 12 billion euros ($A19.12 billion).
Wiring and other technical problems are behind a costly two-year delay in delivery of the A380. The holdup is set to wipe 4.8 billion euros ($A7.65 billion) off the profit of Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co over the next four years.
Emirates is by far the biggest single customer for the A380. It initially ordered 43 A380s and took another four in May.
Jazeera Airways signed an order for 30 single-aisle A320 jets worth between 1.6 billion euros and 1.8 billion euros ($A2.55 billion and $A2.87 billion) on list prices.
Emirates ordered an additional A380 and now has to 55 of on order but is undecided about whether it will sign up for Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner or its wide-bodied Airbus rival, the A350 WXB.
Airbus was forced last year to launch a costly redesign of the planned A350 after airlines scorned its earlier model - resulting in the extra-wide-body or XWB model - and is having to renegotiate existing orders.
Until today Airbus had only 13 firm orders for the mid-size, long-range aircraft, compared with 584 orders for Chicago-based Boeing's Dreamliner - the first commercial jet made of light, sturdy, carbon-fibre composites instead of aluminum.
Scott Carson, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said Monday that the Dreamliner was on track for test flights in August or September, and delivery to its first customers in May.
Carson also announced Monday that GE Commercial Aviation Services had ordered six of its 777 freighters, worth $US1.42 billion ($A1.69 billion) at list prices, taking the number of 777s ordered by GECAS to 39, including 14 freighters.
Jakarta-based Lion Air ordered an additional 40 737-900ER aircraft. At over $US3 billion ($A3.57 billion) each, that brings Lion Air's combined orders for the 737-900ER to 100.
The Paris show comes amid revived fortunes for the commercial airline industry. After two years in the red, the industry will make a profit of just over 3.7 billion euros ($A5.9 billion) this year, despite rising fuel costs, says the International Air Transport Association, whose 250 members claim to represent 94 per cent of international air traffic.
Away from the rivalry between Boeing and Airbus, Rolls-Royce PLC said it had received the largest-ever firm engine order for its civil aerospace business from Qatar.
The $US5.6 billion ($A6.66 billion) order is for Trent XWB engines to power Qatar's new fleet of 80 Airbus A350 XWB twinjets, with deliveries beginning in 2013.
Email Print Normal font Large font June 19, 2007 - 10:17AM
Advertisement
AdvertisementAirbus racked up a series of big orders at the opening of the world's biggest air show today, stealing some early limelight from US rival Boeing.
With the manufacturers' intense competition again expected to be a dominant theme of the weeklong show at Le Bourget, north of Paris, both looked to make a splash from the get-go, with billions of euros worth of orders announced.
Airbus booked orders from US Airways, Qatar Airlines, Emirates and Jazeera Airways for a fleet of planes, including its problem-plagued A350 and superjumbo A380 models.
US Airways Group Inc snapped up 60 A320 single-aisle aircraft and 32 widebody aircraft. It also increased its previously announced order of 20 A350s by two to 22 A350 XWBs in both the 800 and larger 900 series configuration.
The A320s will replace Boeing 737-300/400s, which will be eliminated from the fleet, the carrier said. It expects delivery of the first A350-800 in 2014, as the North American launch customer for the fleet type.
Qatar ordered 80 A350 XWBs, three A380s and three A320 family aircraft. Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said the order for the A350s is worth 12 billion euros ($A19.12 billion).
Wiring and other technical problems are behind a costly two-year delay in delivery of the A380. The holdup is set to wipe 4.8 billion euros ($A7.65 billion) off the profit of Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co over the next four years.
Emirates is by far the biggest single customer for the A380. It initially ordered 43 A380s and took another four in May.
Jazeera Airways signed an order for 30 single-aisle A320 jets worth between 1.6 billion euros and 1.8 billion euros ($A2.55 billion and $A2.87 billion) on list prices.
Emirates ordered an additional A380 and now has to 55 of on order but is undecided about whether it will sign up for Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner or its wide-bodied Airbus rival, the A350 WXB.
Airbus was forced last year to launch a costly redesign of the planned A350 after airlines scorned its earlier model - resulting in the extra-wide-body or XWB model - and is having to renegotiate existing orders.
Until today Airbus had only 13 firm orders for the mid-size, long-range aircraft, compared with 584 orders for Chicago-based Boeing's Dreamliner - the first commercial jet made of light, sturdy, carbon-fibre composites instead of aluminum.
Scott Carson, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said Monday that the Dreamliner was on track for test flights in August or September, and delivery to its first customers in May.
Carson also announced Monday that GE Commercial Aviation Services had ordered six of its 777 freighters, worth $US1.42 billion ($A1.69 billion) at list prices, taking the number of 777s ordered by GECAS to 39, including 14 freighters.
Jakarta-based Lion Air ordered an additional 40 737-900ER aircraft. At over $US3 billion ($A3.57 billion) each, that brings Lion Air's combined orders for the 737-900ER to 100.
The Paris show comes amid revived fortunes for the commercial airline industry. After two years in the red, the industry will make a profit of just over 3.7 billion euros ($A5.9 billion) this year, despite rising fuel costs, says the International Air Transport Association, whose 250 members claim to represent 94 per cent of international air traffic.
Away from the rivalry between Boeing and Airbus, Rolls-Royce PLC said it had received the largest-ever firm engine order for its civil aerospace business from Qatar.
The $US5.6 billion ($A6.66 billion) order is for Trent XWB engines to power Qatar's new fleet of 80 Airbus A350 XWB twinjets, with deliveries beginning in 2013.
