Competition is heating up this week between rival commercial airplane producers Airbus and Boeing as they battle it out for dominance in the skies at the 47th Paris Air Show. While orders for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner have recently had the company leading the market for mid-sized aircraft, Airbus has been stacking up sales and is emerging as the clear Middle Eastern favorite at the week-long show.
More than 160 Airbus orders were placed by Middle Eastern airlines alone in the first three days at the show, accounting for almost 30 percent of the 548 Airbus orders announced so far. Valued at $75 billion, of the 548 total, 358 are firm orders and 190 are commitments to purchase the aircraft.
While Boeing has primarily attracted international plane-leasing companies and Western airlines, 167 Airbus orders have been placed by airlines based in the UAE, Kuwait, Turkey, Libya, and Tunisia, all of which appear to be jumping on board the Airbus buying frenzy that has dominated the Paris Air Show this week.
Chicago-based Boeing has announced $15.9 billion worth of orders at the show – almost all of which are firm bookings. The company already has 634 orders, valued at $100 billion, for their widely successful Dreamliner aircraft. This is opposed to Airbus’ total of 134 orders for the new A350 extra-wide-body (XWB) aircraft – Airbus’ fuel-efficient and cost-saving answer to the Dreamliner in the commercial medium-size, long-range jet market. The A350 is expected to debut in 2013, five years after the Dreamliner.
Qatar Airways was one of the biggest buyers of the new Airbus A350, having placed a firm 80-aircraft order at the show earlier this week. ALAFCO, the Kuwait-based charter international Aviation Lease and Finance Company ordered 12 A350s, in addition to seven of the single-aisle A320s.
Libyan Airline Afriqiyah Airways has ordered five A320s and has selected the A350 XWB for its long-term expansion plan, committing to the purchase of six of the airplane. In 2006 the airline ordered 12 different aircraft from Airbus.
Airbus’ introduction of the A380, a giant 555-seat jumbo jet, had the company experiencing significant production delays and financial loss last year. Middle Eastern-area airlines, however, have been signing on for the plane in recent months, with even more orders placed at the show this week.
Dubai’s national carrier, Emirates Airline, which is already the biggest purchaser of the A380, signed on for eight more of the aircraft, bringing its total order to 55. In addition to the two already on order, Qatar Airways signed on for another three A380s at the show.
Turkish cargo operator MNG Airlines placed an order for two Airbus A330-200 freighters, and Ethiad Airways, national airline of United Arab Emirates, signed a firm order for 12 Airbus jets, including five A330-200 passenger jets, four A340-600 planes and three A330-200 Freighters.
Tunisian carrier, Nouvelair, announced the purchase of two A320s, and Kuwait and Dubai-based Jazeera Airways, the Middle East’s first private airline, is joining the buying frenzy as well, signing a contract for 30 A320 aircraft, quadrupling its previous order for the plane.
As Middle Eastern airlines continue to expand in record numbers – doubling, tripling and even quadrupling their fleets – it certainly seems Airbus is emerging as the winner in the Mideast-orders war.