Airbus outsells Boeing at air show

AIRBUS    BOEING     

Global - Airbus received five times more orders by value than US rival Boeing at a recent air show.

Airbus received US$5.3 billion in orders and letters of intent at the Dubai air show which ran from the 15-19 November, against two orders worth US$800 million from Boeing.

"We had a good air show, better than many expected," said John Leahy, chief operating officer at Airbus.

But sales dipped sharply from the last show held in 2007, when both aircraft makers received combined orders and letters of intent worth US$75 billion, the BBC reported.

"Our industry is not out of the woods yet. There will be a difficult winter ahead of us... but with the deals we made in Dubai and the interest in our products that we saw here, spring may not be that far away," Leahy said.

According to the BBC, Ethiopian Airlines placed an order for 12 Airbus A350-900s worth US$2.9 billion.

Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) placed orders for one A330-200 wide-body and one Airbus A320 single aisle aircraft as part of its international fleet modernising campaign. Both new Airbus aircraft will be deployed on international services routes to Europe and North Asia, Airbus reported.

"We have seen tremendous growth in tourism over recent years and we want to capitalise on the A330s unique performance and range to offer direct services to our key long haul markets and to develop new ones thanks to the efficiency of the A320," said Sugat Ratna Kansakar, executive chairman of Nepal Airlines. 

Boeing on the other hand, announced deals for 11 737-800 jetliners to Algeria's Air Algerie and Tassili Airline at the air show.

Boeing also said it delivered a 777-300ER to US-based leasing company GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) and its customer, Philippine Airlines (PAL) yesterday.

According to Boeing, the new airplane is the first 777 to join PAL's fleet and is one of two leased 777-300ERs the airline will deploy on its international routes.

"The Boeing 777-300ER is a great choice for PAL, giving Asia's first commercial airline the most efficient airplane in the 300-to-400 seat segment," said Rob Laird, vice president of Sales for East and Southeast Asia Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

According to organisers at the Dubai air show, orders made this year totalled US$13 billion or 10% of the US$155 billion of deals inked at the same event two year earlier.

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