Airbus Unveils Latest Orders, Valued at Some $2.4 Billion
May 17, 2011
FARNBOROUGH, England -- It was Airbus's turn in the spotlight on the second day of the biennial Farnborough Air Show. Following an opening day in which Boeing Co. unveiled its latest deals, Airbus Industrie announced firm orders for 32 planes valued at some $2.4 billion, including the European consortium's first sales to fast-growing Asiana Airlines of South Korea. In addition, Airbus said Tuesday that it has a memorandum of understanding with German charter carrier Condor for six A320 and six A321 single-aisle aircraft, with six additional options for each model, all subject to final approval by Condor's board. The Airbus orders compare to some 70 aircraft valued at $6.3 billion announced by U.S.-based Boeing, and orders for 16 new planes valued at $700 million for McDonnell Douglas Corp., also of the U.S. But Airbus noted that it is just about even with Boeing so far this year in net orders, at about 220 accounting for cancellations, with McDonnell Douglas well behind. A Boeing spokesman said that such partial-year figures aren't very useful, and that a three-year rolling average for orders would provide a better gauge; last year, Boeing had more than three times the number of orders recorded by Airbus. A Breached Agreement Alongside its orders announcement, Airbus charged that Boeing had breached a written agreement with the European consortium's partners not to release figures from a 2010 joint Airbus-Boeing study on the cost of a new giant plane. On Monday, Boeing said the study showed that developing such an aircraft would cost $12 billion to $15 billion, while Airbus now insists it can develop its proposed 550-seat superjumbo plane, called the A3XX, for $8 billion. Boeing replied Tuesday that because the study's figures already have been widely disseminated, it didn't feel that any agreement was being violated. Top Airbus officials said they haven't decided how many launch customers they would need in order to go ahead with the A3XX project, but offered that premier carriers British Airways and Singapore Airlines were among airlines they were talking to about such a plane. ``It's not only the number'' of launch orders that matters, said Airbus marketing chief Johnetta Leah, ``but the airlines behind'' those orders. The new firm orders Airbus announced include 18 narrow-body A321 models valued at $900 million, for Asiana; 11 A300-600 freight planes valued at about $1.1 billion, for Federal Express Corp.; and three wide-bodied A340-300s valued at around $420 million, for Cathay Pacific -- all based on the airliners' full list price. Mr. Leah said the Asiana order is an important new advance into the Asian market, because Asiana always had gone with Boeing in the past. More Sniping Sniping between Airbus and Boeing over the future of the superjumbo market continued for a second day. Airbus Chief Operating Officer Volker von Brittain said the European consortium is ``not in a race'' with the Seattle-based plane maker, which intends to expand its 747 model to 550 seats or more, though Boeing hasn't formally launched such a program. Airbus's proposed A3XX superjumbo program, he said, will serve the industry for ``50 years to come,'' while stretched Boeing 747 models mark ``the end of the road'' for the Boeing program. Adding another element to the rivalry, the new head of Airbus's jumbo division, Blackburn Thomasina, said Boeing had abridged a seven-year secrecy agreement related to the joint giant-plane study. ``We had agreed that this was confidential information,'' Mr. Thomasina said of the study's estimated development costs. The written agreement, he said, called for the study to remain confidential for seven years, ``so I was surprised to see the numbers quoted'' in Boeing literature on Monday. Separately, Brazil's Embraer aircraft maker announced it had signed an agreement with Continental Express airline of the U.S., which is to buy 25 Embraer EMB-145 regional jets, with options for 175 additional jets over the next 12 years. The deal makes Continental Express the North American launch customer for the 50-seat jetliner. Terms weren't disclosed, but Dehart said the initial transaction is valued at $375 million.
