Airbus finished ahead of Boeing in the now customary battle of the giants of global aircraft manufacture as the biennial Paris Air Show came to a close yesterday.
Orders placed and commitments made in the trade-dominated early stages of the seven-day event amounted to US$107.2 billion (Dh393.74bn) of new business for the two companies.
The total was $8.3 million down on the value of deals secured by the companies at last year’s air show in the English town of Farnborough, an event with which Paris alternates.
But the number of aircraft ordered was higher, 752 compared with 697, thanks to a last-minute coup for Airbus. The European manufacturer announced a provisional order for 110 A321neo single-aisle planes from the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air.
With a list-price value of $13bn, before the large discounts carriers negotiate, the agreement took Airbus totals for the show to 421 aircraft worth $57bn, with Boeing reporting deals to supply 331 planes with brochure prices amounting to $50.2bn.
“Paris this year has been far from quiet,” the Airbus sales chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy, told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. “For us, it was the fourth-best air show in terms of sales since Lindbergh landed here in 1927.”
When Mr Leahy referred to “here”, he was describing the home of the Paris show, Le Bourget, now devoted to commercial aviation but until 1932 the French capital’s only airport.
If Charles Lindbergh, who flew there on his 5,800km solo transatlantic crossing from New York in 1927, represented a more romantic age of air travel, public fascination with flying remains strong. More than 300,000 people visited this year’s show.
The business was done in the four days restricted to industry visitors, exhibitors and press. The deals may have been less eyecatching than at recent Paris, Farnborough or Dubai shows, but selling was brisk enough to have executives from the big two oozing confidence.
However, the show ended without orders for the world’s biggest passenger jet, the Airbus A380.
No new customer for the plane, which accommodates 525 passengers in its classic three-class format, has been found in two years.
Emirates has ordered 140, of which 60 are in service, and is keen on an even bigger version of the super-jumbo. Bloomberg News said Airbus is considering a “little stretch” adding 40 to 60 extra seats, which Emirates regards as “a step in the right direction, but perhaps not as many as we would have liked”.
Aviation analysts speculated before the Paris show that Boeing was favourite to land a new deal with the Dubai operator involving between 70 and 100 wide-bodied planes.
The US manufacturer’s 787-10 Dreamliner, on which assembly is due to start in 2017, is said by Britain’s Strategic Aero Research to “trump” Airbus A350s in certain comparisons.
However, the Emirates president Tim Clark has kept his options open, saying the Airbus has levels of thrust that the Dreamliner, although a "spectacular aeroplane", lacks.
It was known there would be no decision in time for the Paris event on what would be either maker’s largest order in history. Analysts expect the announcement to be made at the Dubai Air Show in November.
But the general satisfaction of Airbus at its performance in Paris was expressed in distinctly upbeat comments from Fabrice Brégier, the president and chief executive, at the end-of-show press conference.
He said the company’s successes during the event demonstrated the market trend was “extremely positive”. Airbus is on track to achieve or exceed the target it set this year of having a “book-to-bill ratio” – orders received against completed aircraft – of better than one.
Its range of wide-bodied and single-aisle jets offered “unmatched cabin comfort and environmental performance”, he said.
“Globally we have never been so strong. We have never had such a new family of aircraft in every category.”
Boeing gave an equally positive assessment, describing its presence at the show as highly successful. Randy Tinseth, the vice president of marketing for Boeing, said the “depth and breadth” of orders received had been impressive.
The company also said it had strengthened its position as the aerospace industry’s leader in innovation and technology.
“Innovation is the heart of our strategy. It is what differentiates us not only from existing competitors but also from the competitors of the future,” says Dennis Muilenburg, the vice chairman, president and chief operating officer.
“We have more research, development and capital projects under way and are bringing innovation to market faster than at any time in our history.”
Boeing's sales included 30 each of the 787-9 and 737 Max 8 aircraft for the Indonesian national carrier, Garuda; 20 747-8 freighters for the Russian Volga-Dnepr Group and 21 next-generation 737s for unidentified customers.
Four C-17 Globemaster airlifters were sold to the Qatar Armed Forces, which will double its fleet of the plane, and six 787-8 Dreamliners were ordered by Ethiopian Airlines.
Paris produced mixed results for other manufacturers. The Brazilian firm Embraer sold 50 regional jets and Pakistan won its first export order for the JF-17 Thunder fighter, although full details were not released.
Canada’s Bombardier took no new business for its new C Series passenger jet but reported successful test results for the narrow-bodied, medium-range plane.
Canadian media interpreted the lack of orders as a “new setback”, indicative of a slowdown in the market after a period of buoyancy inspired by demand from the Middle East and Asia.
Bombardier had said in advance that it did not expect to announce further C Series sales at Paris, but Edward Stacey, an analyst from the Espirito Santo Investment Bank, described this as an attempt to “brace the market” for disappointment.
Other aviation specialists point out that even announcements of new business tell only part of the story, with growing numbers of letters of intent as opposed to firm contracts. Even the show’s biggest single deal – the Wizz Air order for 110 Airbus A321neos – is subject to shareholder approval.
Boeing and Airbus had both cautioned before the show against expectations that the flurry of orders in recent years would continue.
Not that they will be too concerned – both have lengthy backlogs with Airbus looking to build and deliver 6,300 aircraft and Boeing 5,700.
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