First Day of Paris Show is Huge for Airbus

Airbus has capped off a memorable first day of the 2007 Paris Air Show by revealing orders and commitments for 64 more jetliners to add to the 278 already announced during the day.

By the end of the day, Airbus had announced firm orders and commitments for 342 jetliners. After announcing deals from Qatar Airways, US Airways, GE Capital Aviation Services, Emirates, Kuwait's Jazeera Airways and Tunisian carrier Nouvelair earlier in the day, Airbus revealed that Russia's S7 Group, Kuwait's Aircraft Leasing and Finance Company (ALAFCO) and Air France had also committed to aircraft.

In announcing the three additional deals, Airbus shot past a 2005 Paris Air Show sales total of 280 airliners that its chief salesman, John Leahy, forecast the Europe-based manufacturer would exceed during this year's week-long show.

Leahy made his forecast on the first morning of the show. During the day Boeing announced firm orders for 46 aircraft, six Boeing 777s for GECAS and 40 more 737-900ERs for Indonesia's Lion Air.

While this was 296 aircraft fewer than Airbus' total for the day, Boeing has a policy of only announcing firm orders and few doubt that the U.S. company has a clutch of additional deals up its sleeve to announce during the week of the Paris Air Show. Particularly expected is a large Boeing 787 deal from giant leasing company International Lease Finance Corporation.

But while not all of the deals announced by Airbus today were signed firm orders, the huge additional number of commitments---which represents more than 300 percent of the number of firm orders that Airbus had announced for the first five months of 2007---brings it much more into line with Boeing's order total so far in 2007.

In the period from January 1 until June 12 Boeing booked orders for a net total of 429 jet airliners, made up of new orders for 439 aircraft minus orders for 10 aircraft cancelled or changed to other models by customers. In the five months to the end of May, Airbus had added orders for 105 aircraft, according to airline industry trade magazine Air Transport World.

S7 Group, the managing company of S7 Airlines, ordered 25 Airbus A320s. The deal marks the first time S7 Group has purchased aircraft directly from Airbus. The A320s will be operated by S7 Airlines, which according to Airbus is the largest Russian domestic carrier.

At present S7 operates eight leased A310s and seven leased A319s. It plans to put four leased A320s into service during the first half of 2008.

S7's newly ordered A320s will be powered by CFM International CFM56-5-series engines and will feature a two-class cabin layout seating up to 160 passengers. The airline plans to operate the aircraft mainly from its three major hubs, Moscow, Novosibirsk and Irkutsk, on both domestic and international routes.

The company was a recent customer for up to 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, like its Russian rival Aeroflot. Aeroflot ordered 22 787s as well as an identical number of A350 XWBs, the rival aircraft from Airbus.

Today, also, leasing company ALAFCO signed a firm contract for 12 A350 XWBs and ordered seven A320s.

ALAFCO's main shareholder is Kuwait Finance House. Specializing in commercial aircraft leasing techniques that are in accordance with the Koran's Sharia teachings, which forbid companies to charge interest, ALAFCO has a diversified portfolio of commercial aircraft that include Airbus' A320 and A300/A310 families.

Airbus capped a good day for sales when Air France signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the purchase of two additional A380s and 18 A320-family aircraft. The two A380s are additional to the 10 it already has ordered.

The carrier indicated on May 24 that it planned to order another 30 A320s as well as the two A380s, at the same time saying it also would order another 18 Boeing 777s to replace Boeing 747-400s now in its fleet. Since today's MOU for 18 A320-family aircraft is for 12 fewer units than was expected, this might mean Airbus can expect another A320-family order from Air France in the near future.

Air France plans eventually to operate an all-Airbus single-aisle fleet, the manufacturer says. It recently has retired its last Boeing 737 Classic-series narrowbody, having once operated large fleets of 737-200s, 737-300s and 737-500s. With 145 A320-family aircraft in service, Air France already operates one of the world's largest Airbus narrowbody fleets.

It will also be the first European carrier to operate the A380. Air France will fly its A380s from its Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub to Asian and North American destinations, starting in spring 2009. The airline will configure its A380s in a three-class layout.

Air France's A380s will be powered by Engine Alliance GP7200-series engines. The Engine Alliance is a partnership between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney created to offer a new engine for the Airbus superjumbo.

The latest generation A320s and A321s ordered by Air France are equipped with updated cabins and CFM International CFM56-5-series engines. The carrier will operate the aircraft on domestic and European routes.

Before the show began, the A320 family had already accumulated sales of more than 5,070 aircraft and more than 3,000 had been delivered. Of all other jet airliners, only the Boeing 737 family--which in its original 737-100 variant entered service in 1967--has garnered more sales.

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