Airbus outsells Boeing at Paris Air Show
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-17 09:11

Airbus announced 138 new passenger plane orders and commitments at Le Bourget on Thursday, taking to 261 the total number of jets it has sold so far at the Paris Air Show — as Boeing called it a day with 146.

A surprise 100-plane order from a brand-new Indian airline, IndiGo, accounted for most of the gap between the trans-Atlantic rivals after a fourth day of dealmaking at the world's biggest aerospace industry gathering.

Aerial view of a part of the 46th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Thursday June 16, 2005. With a Boeing 747-400 cargo aircraft in the background, an Italian Air Forces Boeing 767 tanker, foreground, and a Boeing 777, at center.[AP]

Boeing is unlikely to announce any further business at the show, the company said, but Airbus hinted that more orders would be unveiled Friday. "The week isn't finished yet," spokeswoman Barbara Kracht said.

Some analysts had predicted that U.S.-based Boeing could this year regain the lead in orders it lost four years ago, but the late surge by Airbus makes that prospect less likely.

By the start of June, Boeing had chalked up 255 firm orders to Airbus' 196. Airbus could now overtake its Chicago-based rival in coming months as nonbinding commitments announced this week are completed as firm orders.

An Airbus A380 super jumbo performs in a demonstration flight at the 46th International Paris Air Show at Le Bouget airport, north of Paris, Thursday, June 16, 2005.[AP]

Neither Boeing Co. nor Airbus supplied figures for the value of business they did at Le Bourget. But estimates based on their catalog prices suggest Airbus sold about $29 billion worth of planes — almost double the $15 billion sold by Boeing.

The IndiGo deal alone was worth some $6 billion at list price, Airbus said, as it announced that New Delhi-based travel company InterGlobe Enterprises Ltd. and Indian businessman Rakesh Gangwal were teaming up to launch the new low-cost domestic carrier. Gangwal has previously worked as a senior executive for United Airlines, Air France and US Airways.

"IndiGo is the result of extensive analysis and planning by very experienced airline executives and we're convinced it will be a successful new player," Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard said.

But some industry watchers were skeptical. Richard Aboulafia of U.S. aerospace consultancy Teal Group said commitments from ambitious startups like IndiGo and Kingfisher Airlines — another Indian no-frills carrier which became the 16th customer for the 555-seater Airbus A380 "superjumbo" — were less likely to lead to final deliveries than those from established carriers.

The tail of a Boeing 777 plane is seen as an Airbus A380, the world's biggest airliner, flies in the background at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, near Paris, June 14, 2005. [Reuters]

"It's very unlikely those five A380s will ever see the light of day," said Aboulafia — although he said Airbus scored hits with blue-chip orders for its A350, the planned rival to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, from aircraft leasing company GECAS and Qatar Airways.

GECAS has yet to order the Dreamliner even though it is scheduled to enter service two years before the A350.

Nevertheless, Aboulafia said, "Boeing's still ahead on quality and behind on numbers. The real issue is that Airbus remains in the lead on deliveries. That's the one for Boeing to watch."

Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher insisted the company was "not at all" disappointed with its Le Bourget showing and said it was too early to rule out taking more orders than Airbus in 2005.

"We had a good week," Blecher said. "We'll get back to regular business tomorrow. We have a lot of things being discussed around the world and we'll see which ones come through by the end of the year."

Airbus' buoyant sales also offer little consolation for the paralysis at the top of parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. — which took part in the high-profile air show without a CEO — or a trans-Atlantic row over plane subsidies that has already delayed the A350's launch.

The trade dispute between the EU and the United States intensified after Washington filed a World Trade Organization complaint last month citing development aid to Airbus, and Brussels countersued over support to Boeing.

The crisis comes as EADS' Franco-German board is divided over plans pushed by Forgeard to increase control over units including 80 percent-owned Airbus when he finally takes over as the group's joint-CEO alongside German Tom Enders. Their appointments are on hold until management disagreements are resolved.

Sources close to EADS and Airbus, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the companies are asking governments to consider boosting "indirect" plane funding of the kind they say Boeing receives via U.S. military and space programs — as a possible substitute for the proposed A350 loans which sparked the trade spat.

The Paris Air Show opens to the public from Friday until its close on Sunday, after four days reserved for industry visitors and official delegations.

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