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• Dubai show gives Airbus boost 11/13/07
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| CONTACT THE HERALD |
Mike Benbow, Business Editor
benbow@heraldnet.com |
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Published: Monday, November 12, 2007
Airbus poised to break records, beat Boeing
Herald staff and Associated Press
Airbus looks ready to beat the Boeing Co. in commercial jet orders in 2007, besting its rival at the Dubai Airshow.
The European jet maker pulled ahead of Boeing in year-to-date orders at the end of October, listing 1,021 orders to Boeing’s 959. After grabbing roughly $50 billion in deals for more than 200 planes in Dubai, Airbus says it will break records for both jet orders and deliveries in 2007.
“We expect to have delivered 450 aircraft so far this year by mid-November,” Tom Enders, Airbus president and chief executive, said at the Dubai International Airshow.
On Sunday, Airbus stole the airshow and the big order from Boeing, winning a $31 billion deal from Emirates Airline. The Dubai-based carrier selected Airbus’s A350 over Boeing’s 787, ordering 70 from Airbus and picking up options for an additional 50 A350s. Emirates also provided a shot of confidence to Airbus’s A380 super jumbo jet, ordering 11.
Both Boeing and Airbus picked up big orders from state-owned Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, in deals announced Monday. DAE will buy 100 Airbus planes for $13.5 billion and 100 from Boeing for $13.7 billion.
That order comprises 70 Boeing 737s and 30 widebody aircraft, Boeing said. The widebody fleet will be split among 787s, 777s and 747 freighters.
Boeing also won an order from LCAL, a Dubai-based leasing company, for six 787 Dreamliner jets.
However, it’s been mostly Airbus’s show in the United Arab Emirates. The Toulouse, France-based Airbus signed agreements with low-cost carrier Air Arabia, Saudi Arabian Airlines and National Air Service for more than 75 of Airbus’s single-aisle A320s.
Airbus’s chief salesman, John Leahy, told media in Dubai that he anticipates the A350 will win 300 orders by the end of the year, that’s up from an earlier prediction of 200.
At the end of October, Boeing had received 288 requests for its fast-selling 787. The company recently delayed the first delivery of the Dreamliner by six months.
The Dubai Airshow, the third-largest event of its kind, is closely watched as a measure of the state of Gulf air carriers, who are taking advantage of shifting travel routes to substantially expand fleets.
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