The recent surge in oil prices is actually a boon for aircraft manufacturers, encouraging airlines to acquire planes that are more efficient than an earlier generation of fuel guzzlers now sitting idle in US deserts.
The cost of aviation fuel, 0.24 euros per liter on June 30, rose 21.8 percent over the previous six months and 33 percent on the year, according to one study by France's Union of Petroleum Industries.
The civil aviation industry went into a tailspin in 2001, brought on by a global economic downturn, armed conflict, terrorism threats and epidemics. The International Civil Aviation Organisation has estimated that the sector lost 6.6 billion dollars last year.
But a recovery that was first detected at the end of last year, which saw a 19.4 percent increase in traffic from January to May 2004 according to the International Air Transport Association, has prompted carriers to re-activate some of the planes parked in the desert and to acquire newer models that consume substantially less fuel than their predecessors.
The latest version in the Boeing's 737 line, the 737-900, burns 25 percent less oil than earlier versions, the 737-200 or 300, the US manufacturer said.
Companies have left 141 737-200 and 300 aircraft to the desert to wait out the crisis.
Boeing also says its future 7E7 model should consume 20 percent less fuel that the A330 of its European rival Airbus.
But Airbus maintains that its giant A380, which will have a passenger capacity of 550 and will be the world's largest airliner, will be 15 percent more fuel efficient per seat than Boeing's 747-400.
In the rivalry between Boeing and Airbus, the Farnborough Air Show, which opens Monday near London, could give the US firm a chance to re-assert itself.
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