AIRBUS CONFIRMED major deals worth billions of dollars for one of its flagship aircraft yesterday – easing the embarrassment caused by a series of mishaps to befall the European firm on the first day of the Paris Air Show.
Airbus said it had won an order for 60 A320neo aircraft worth €3.6 billion from the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric. Further orders for the aircraft were expected from Scandinavian Airlines and Qatar Airways.
Narrow-body aircraft such as the A320neo, which are popular with low-cost airlines, are one of the main battlegrounds between Airbus and its competitor Boeing. Airbus believes it has the upper hand with the A320neo, whose more efficient engines save airlines 15 per cent of fuel costs, according to the company.
Boeing conceded yesterday it might lose some business while it makes a decision about whether to re-engine or redesign its competing 737 narrow-body aircraft.
The US firm enjoyed some notable success in other aircraft sizes yesterday, booking the first big order of the Paris show for six 777-300ER wide-body jets worth €1.2 billion from Qatar Airways.
It also saw Airbus suffer the embarrassment of a taxiway mishap involving its A380 superjumbo on the eve of the show. The incident happened at Le Bourget airport on Sunday, when a wing tip of a test plane for the world’s largest jetliner – with a wingspan of 80m – scraped a building and the aircraft had to be withdrawn from the air show’s flying displays.
A second Airbus aircraft, the delayed European A400 airlifter, was also initially withdrawn from the air display after a gearbox problem.
The mishaps came at a bad time for Airbus, just hours after the arrival of a new competitor – Boeing’s elongated 747-8 superjumbo – which is on public show for the first time in Paris.
Boeing said it had taken orders and commitments for 17 747-8 aircraft from two undisclosed carriers in deals worth a combined €3.8 billion at list prices.
The latest version of the 747 jumbo touched down in orange and red “sunrise” livery, symbolising the rising importance of the Asian market. The optimistic mood in the industry is due mainly to a sharp rebound in demand from Asia and the Middle East.
Emerging markets are making their presence felt on the industry in other ways too. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing’s civil jet division, suggested that the market dominance his company has shared with Airbus may be coming to an end due to the growing clout of new competitors.
Chinese, Russian and Canadian firms are preparing to enter the 100 seat-plus market with jets of their own over the next five years, and the Brazilian group Embraer made its presence felt yesterday by saying it had won orders for 39 regional jets, worth €1.2 billion at list prices.