Asian and low-cost airlines defied worries about the global recession and placed dozens of orders with Airbus at the Paris Air Show, in sharp contrast to rival Boeing, which reported no new sales.
Planemakers at the world’s biggest air show are trying to coax airlines and governments to open their pocketbooks and buy more aircraft despite plunging passenger loads and revenues.
Airbus CEO Tom Enders declared that Tuesday’s sunny skies — after pelting rain on Monday’s opening day — boded well for business.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS
Airbus announced two firm orders from Vietnam Airlines and the Philippines low-cost airline Cebu Pacific worth US$1.8 billion on Tuesday. Vietnam Airlines ordered 16 Airbus A321 single-aisle jets worth US$1.4 billion and pledged to buy two more A350-XWB planes.
The airline made a deposit and signed a memorandum of understanding for the two A350 planes, which falls short of a firm sale and means Airbus does not count the order in its overall tally.
Cebu Pacific made a firm order for five single-aisle A320s worth a total of US$385 million at list prices. Airlines often negotiate substantial discounts to catalog prices, particularly in tough economic times.
Kuala Lumpur low-cost airline Air Asia ordered 10 A350-900 jets and placed options for five more. The list price for the 10 jets would be US$2.4 billion.
Boeing’s vice president for international corporate communications, Charlie Miller, shrugged off the Airbus announcements.
“Airbus and Boeing approach air shows in a different way. Boeing doesn’t save up orders to announce at air shows. That has been our policy for years. Our policy is to announce orders as soon as they are firm,” he said.
Boeing has sought to concentrate on its military programs. The head of its air refueling tanker programs expressed confidence in the US jet manufacturer’s chances to win the rematch with Airbus’ parent EADS for a multibillion-dollar contract with the US Air Force.
Boeing vice president Dave Bowman said his team was “pumped and ready to rock” when the Air Force issues its request for offers in the coming weeks.
Both rivals sought to minimize expectations this year amid worries about credit markets, the global economy and the unexplained crash of Air France Flight 447.
“This is not the time to expect huge orders, but there are still orders coming in because the situation is different from region to region” and company to company, Enders told a news conference. “What counts for our numbers, our financial health, is not orders but turning our backlog into delivery.”
He also sought to reassure its thousands of workers amid cutbacks across the aviation industry.
“We are very much interested in keeping stable the most important asset we have in our company ... our skilled workforce,” he said.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
RSS