Airbus lifted by Air Show orders

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus boosted its flagging spirits this week after unveiling record orders at the Paris air show.

The company shrugged off the delays and cost overruns to its A380 superjumbo to announce new orders and commitments with a catalogue value of US$98bn (€73bn) at Le Bourget.

The performance beat its previous best in 2005 and pushed its old rival Boeing into the shade.

Airbus’ raft of new contracts include 425 firm orders and additional commitments for 303 more.

Boeing won an order for 63 jets from airline leasing company International Lease Finance with a total list price of US$8.8bn (€6.5bn), but announced orders for just 65 other aircraft during the show.

The biggest Airbus success was an order for 80 A350s and three A380s for Middle East carrier Qatar Airways worth up to US$18bn (€13.5bn).

The win was also a boost for Rolls-Royce, which picked up the US$5.6bn (€4.1bn) order for engines and servicing on the carrier’s new fleet of A350 aircraft, with the firm beginning deliveries in 2013.

The deal is the biggest ever for its civil aerospace division.

Bristol and Derby based Rolls Royce unveiled 19 orders with a list price of US$15.1bn (€11.3bn) at the show this week.

Aviation experts said that Airbus “stole the high ground” in terms of aircraft numbers but added that the real value of the orders and commitments may be below the figures actually announced by the company.

Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, said Airbus was likely to be offering significant discounts to major customers for its aircraft.

In February, Airbus’s parent company, EADS, announced plans to axe 1,600 UK jobs over the next four years and 10,000 jobs in total across its 16 European sites under its Power8 cost-saving plan to cope with the delays and rising costs on the development of the A380.

Mr Wheeldon said: “The A380 may have had its hugely costly problems moving from development to production but it is nevertheless a very fine plane.

“What matters though is whether Airbus is making them efficiently.”

Source: Sunday Business Post