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Airbus Trounces Boeing in Aircraft Orders

Posted on: Thursday, 23 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By SEAN YOONG

SINGAPORE - Airbus upstaged its archrival Boeing at Asia's top air show Thursday, trumpeting new passenger jet orders worth up to $3.5 billion from India and Indonesia and another $1 billion deal with South Korea for building plane components.

Since Monday, Airbus has won aircraft orders worth as much as $6 billion, from three Asian carriers, while Boeing finalized one order that could earn it as much as $1.4 billion.

Boeing Co. made no new major announcements Thursday at the Asian Aerospace show, which wraps up Sunday, but issued low-key statements on pacts with two aviation service centers in this region to repair and overhaul Boeing planes.

Airbus said Thursday it received orders for a total of 40 A320 planes from two budget airlines, Indonesia's Adam Air and India's GoAir. The A320s have a list price of about $70 million each.

Adam Air wants 30 leased and purchased A320s to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 737s over the next five years, Chief Operating Officer Dave Fikarno Laksono said.

He said the European single-aisle, 180-seat jets have an edge over the 737s in lower fuel and maintenance costs.

GoAir placed a firm order for 10 of A320s and took an option to buy 10 more. GoAir gave details of the deal in New Delhi late Wednesday, but Airbus' formal announcement came Thursday in Singapore.

The orders "highlight the outstanding popularity that the A320 family has enjoyed with established and startup low-cost carriers, including in the Asia-Pacific region," Airbus, which is based in Toulouse, France, said in a statement.

Airbus also signed agreements Thursday worth over $1 billion with state-run Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. to extend their cooperation in developing new A350 planes and manufacturing components for A321 aircraft.

The A320 has clearly been the most popular plane this week, with Airbus finalizing a deal in New Delhi on Monday, the eve of the airshow, to sell 43 A320 and A319 jets to state-owned domestic carrier, Indian, for $2.5 billion.

Chicago-based Boeing's only major deal this week came Tuesday, when Indian budget carrier Spicejet ordered 10 737 planes, and took an option to order another 10. The 737s also have a list price of about $70 million.

The Singapore show's organizers are expected to reveal the total sum of deals signed after the event concludes Sunday, but big contracts for orders of aircraft, engines and other equipment have totaled at least $6.4 billion. The previous Asian Aerospace gathering, held in 2004, culminated in deals worth $3.6 billion.

The contracts were encouraging news for plane makers, which reaped a bumper crop of orders in 2005 that is unlikely to be replicated this year, aviation analysts said Thursday.

"Last year's boom in aircraft orders, which reached record levels, suggests that a cyclical bust is not far behind," Peter Harbison, executive chairman of the Sydney-based Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, said in a statement in Singapore.

The aviation sector should consolidate "ahead of the challenges likely in 2007 as fleet deliveries escalate, new products enter the market and pressures intensify on manpower costs, competition, capacity and yields," Harbison added.

More than 930 exhibitors from 43 countries are at this year's Asian Aerospace, which was expected to pull more than 27,000 trade representatives.

Organizers plan to relocate the show next year to Hong Kong, saying China is crucial to the aviation industry's future.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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