In the ongoing ‘battle’ between European Airbus and American Boeing, it was a major lift for the Toulouse (France) based aircraft industry that US Airways chose Airbus and ordered 114 planes.
Airbus had been engaged in an intense competition with Boeing’s 787 for the US Airways contract. During the Paris Air Show a US Airways senior vice-president opt for Airbus: “The A380 is the right machine for us and the delivery time works out very well for us”. But there was more good news for Airbus. Qatar Airways signed for 80 new A350’s, an order worth €12 billion. Qatar will be the first to receive the new A350 in 2013. Alafco (Aviation Lease and Finance, based in Kuwait) converted an option for 12 A350’s in an order. “Any leasing company order is good news’, let Airbus know, “because it means the aircraft get market acceptance”.
Other Airbus orders included a contract for 30 new Airbus A320’s from Jazeera Airways. GE Commercial Aviation Services announced orders for 60 A320’s and the Russian carrier S7 placed an order for 25 of the planes. Existing customers placed more than a dozen new orders for the A380. The first A 380 is on track for delivery to Singapore Airlines in October.
Airbus, originally a French-German-British project, is one of the rare examples of industrial cooperation and can be called as the flagship of real European business. But such a crossborder cooperation also generates the usual European political tensions between governments and problems on cross border technical implementations. The A380 has been beset by many manufacturing delays which have put deliveries almost two years behind schedule. Reason for companies as Virgin Airlines and DHL to cancel options and to switch to Boeing.
Another problem for Airbus, like for many European products, is the difficult export position caused by the strong Euro. For many years now, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the only real global competitor of Airbus, profits by the weak dollar.
But it looks like Airbus is back on trail now. A good take off for the new management structure with the Frenchman Louis Gallois as President of EADS, the Airbus’ holding company and the German ‘Major’ Tom Enders as Airbus manufacturers company. Europe’s most important political tandem, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, decided recently and in good harmony about the new management. France and Germany are the main share holders of EADS.
