The return of Airbus

From rfi.fr




The European plane maker resurfaces at the opening of the Bourget Air Show. With 339 orders signed in a single day (Monday), Airbus must have broken some kind of record. The less than shiny performance from Boeing makes this day particularly appreciated by company directors

It's a marathon day for Louis Gallois, Airbus President, and the commercial managers of the firm. As soon as the gates of the air show open, the plane maker called a press conference to announce a whole series of contracts. First in line, the president of Qatar Airways not only confirmed his gigantic order of A350 jets, but ordered three additional A380s. A few minutes later, the president of Emirates, the Dubai based airline and first client of the huge aircraft, added eight A380s to his order, bringing the total to 55 planes. A little later, it was US Airways' turn to choose the A350, the competition to Boeing's 787. "And it's not over, there will be a lot of others before the end of the week" affirmed the commercial manager of Airbus.

On its side, Boeing kept a comparatively low profile, with a single cargo plane order. But the American company disposes of a healthy lead on its European competitor with already more than 400 orders booked since the beginning of the year, or twice as many as Airbus. However, the Europeans are confident. Forgetting the doubts of the last few years, the ministers of the Airbus consortium's member nations have expressed their confidence in both A350 and A380 programmes.