The Dubai air show has celebrated a bumper year with record orders for new aircraft nearing 68 billion dollars, the lion's share snapped up by European manufacturer Airbus. The Toulouse-based company said on Wednesday it received firm orders for 163 new aircraft from 10 customers, valued at 28 billion dollars, by the fourth day of the 10th edition of the prestigious show.
It also received a letter of intent from DAE Capital, a subsidiary of public company Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, to buy 100 aircraft - 70 Airbus A320s and 30 A350s - for 13.5 billion dollars.
In addition, Saudi Arabian Airlines signed a letter of intent to buy 22 A320s, valued at around 1.6 billion dollars at list prices, while Egypt's private company Nile Air signed another for nine A320s at just below one billion dollars at catalogue prices.
The total value of firm orders and letters of intent received by Airbus approaches 43.1 billion dollars, according to an AFP tally. In comparison, US giant manufacturer Boeing recorded 55 firm orders valued at 10.6 billion dollars and a letter of intent - also from DAE Capital - to buy 100 aircraft valued at 13.7 billion dollars, including 70 medium-haul 737s, taking Boeing's orders to 24.3 billion dollars.
"This is the best Dubai air show we have ever had. We have received orders and letters of intent to buy 290 aircraft," said Airbus commercial director John Leahy.
The highlight of the show was a 20.2-billion-dollar firm order placed by Emirates airline, the Middle East's largest carrier, for 70 Airbus A350s and 11 A380 superjumbos. The Dubai flagship carrier kept both giant manufacturers on their toes as it remained tight-lipped about its choice between the A350 and its Boeing rival 787 Dreamliner.
Despite the wide gap between the two arch-rivals, Boeing officials kept a brave face, insisting that its relatively modest announcements during the show do not reflect the manufacturer's performance.
"We are not bruised. An air show is just one week out of 52 a year. What matters are the orders that we take across the year," Boeing spokesman Charlie Miller told AFP on Wednesday.
"We have sold almost 1,000 aircraft this year," he added, pointing out that Boeing is obligated by the financial market to announce orders once received rather than waiting for major events to disclose them. He also said that the aggressive performance by Airbus was expected given its recent troubles.
"We know that Airbus was struggling and we knew that they were going to fight back hard," he said. Last year, Boeing overtook Airbus in the race for new business for the first time since 2000.
Airbus slid into the red in 2006 to the tune of 572 million euros (834 million dollars) after a profit of 2.3 billion euros (3.3 billion dollars) in 2005, and has since launched a radical restructuring plan.
Leahy said that 2007 is "going to beat the record for orders" for Airbus with 1,122 firm orders already on its books, beating the previous record year of 2005 with 1,111. Boeing also tried to downplay its failure to sell the 787 Dreamliner to Emirates, insisting that the airliner remains the fastest selling aircraft even before entering service.
"The 787 is sold out through 2014. At least 756 units are sold already," Miller said. He said that Boeing was still hoping to interest Emirates in the future in its small version of the Dreamliner, the 787-8, insisting that despite the huge orders announced during this year's show, the Middle East air travel market will continue to generate opportunities.
"The growth plans of the region's carriers are phenomenal. The visions they have are mind-blowing," he said. The show ends on Thursday after sales of more than threefold those at the last edition in 2005 that were just over 21 billion dollars, according to organisers.