Desert

In this on- the- spot report, Vayu editors review aspects of the recently concluded Dubai Air Show, with record orders announced including mammoth deals for both Airbus and Boeing. Highlights of the Show are included.

As the doors closed on another recordbreaking Dubai Airshow from 12 to 15 November 2017, exhibitors were rushing to close deals and re-book for the next edition of the biennial event to be held in 2019. Trade visitors to the event were up around 20% on the 2015 event, with some 79,380 people entering the purpose-built hall at DWC, Dubai during its five-day run.

At the end of the show’s final day, the order book stood at almost US$113.8 billion with Michele van Akelijen, Managing Director of organisers, Tarsus F&E LLC Middle East, stating, “The figures speak for themselves – it has been another successful year. Dubai is geographically at the centre of the global aviation world and Dubai Airshow is where the sector comes to do business. We have seen incredible, unmatched deals, innovations and ideas. Our variety of conferences – the Space Pavilion and Conference, the UAV Summit, the Cargo Zone conference and Pavilion, Airport Solutions Dubai Conference and Pavilion and the Gulf Aviation Training Event – underline our commitment to making the Airshow a centre of global thought leadership. We aim to help generate the creative knowledge-sharing environment the industry needs in order to thrive.”

The Airshow was marked by ‘gamechanging’ deals from start to finish. Airbus revealed its largest single announcement ever – a US$49.5 billion deal with Indigo Partners to purchase 430 aircraft in its A320neo family. With the Airbus order, Indigo Partners, a US-based private equity fund, has doubled its existing order of 427 A320 family aircraft. The fund owns four ultra low-cost airlines, Wizz Air, Frontier Airlines, JetSMART and Volaris. Golden Falcon Aviation, the exclusive aircraft provider of Kuwaiti carrier Wataniya airways signed a deal to lease 25 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, while Air Arabia, the Middle East low cost carrier, agreed to lease six Airbus A321neo’s. AerCap and Egypt Air negotiated a deal with Airbus during the Dubai Airshow to lease 15 Airbus A320neos.

Boeing won large commitments across its twin-and single-aisle commercial airplane families, debuting key capabilities including the CST-100 Starliner docking and KC46 re-fueling simulators and announced services agreements at the 2017 Dubai Airshow. “This has been a very successful show for Boeing. Our regional customers have maintained their trust in our products

and technology, and our partnerships in the Middle East region continue to grow,” said Bernard Dunn, President, Boeing Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. “We signed agreements with key airline partners including Emirates, flydubai, Azerbaijan Airlines, ALAFCO and Ethiopian Airlines. In addition, Egypt Air became a new customer for the 787. The Airshow was a great opportunity to introduce our newest business unit, Boeing Global Services, to the Middle East market and reiterate the region’s importance to Boeing.”

The static display at the Dubai Airshow featured over 160 commercial, business and military aircraft. New for this year was the Sukhoi Superjet 100 and the Japanese Air Force Kawasaki C2, in addition to first time exhibitor Calidus displaying not one but two aircraft: the B-250 Bader and the TXC. Military might on display included the Su-35, Dassault Rafale, Gripen, the Taqnia/ Antonov An-132, the IOMAX S2R-T660 Archangel and a PAF JF-17 Thunder. In addition, helicopters were well represented with a Turkish Aerospace Industries T129 attack helicopter, the Motor Sich Mi-2 and Mi-8 MSB-T.

Business aviation, a market which is growing in the Middle East, is always heavily represented at the Dubai Airshow and this year was no exception with around 50 business aircraft on the static park, including a Gulfstream G650ER and Bombardier Global 6000; while Emirates Airline displayed its all business class ACJ319.

Also on display were the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, with both Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways exhibiting their flagship A380s and Flydubai showing its Boeing 737 MAX 8.

The Dubai Airshow 2017 opened its doors at DWC, Dubai Airshow Site on 12 November to a record number of exhibitors, aircraft on display, visitors – and an array of ground-breaking deals. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, opened the 15th Dubai Airshow before taking a walking tour around the 645,000 square metre site, pausing to speak with several exhibitors. He was accompanied by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces; and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. His Highness then joined officials from Emirates airline and Boeing to witness the signing of a US$15.1 billion commitment to purchase 40 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners. Emirates is already the world’s largest Boeing 777 operator and the airline will be first to receive the new 777X in 2020.

On the second day, Air Arabia unveiled plans to expand into new markets, as it signed a lease on six new Airbus A321neo’s in a deal valued in excess of US$2.79 billion at current list prices. The new aircraft will be leased on an eight-year deal with US- based Air Lease Corporation (ALC). They will be added to the Sharjah-based airline’s existing fleet of 50 aircraft, based out of five regional hubs in the UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah as well as Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. Their eight-hour flying range will give the airline capacity to expand into new markets including South East Asia, Eastern Europe and the wider African continent.

The UAE Ministry of Defence unveiled further plans worth more than US$891.5 million with eight individual companies, securing a range of logistical, technical support, aircraft hiring and telecommunications services. The list of deals included a US$120 million purchase of P-3 bombs from Tawazun Dynamics LL, to be employed with Mirage 2000-9 and Black Hawk aircraft.

Elsewhere, Boeing and Kuwait’s Aviation Lease and Finance Company ( ALAFCO) finalised an order for 20 additional 737 MAX 8s, doubling their order to 40 aircraft in a deal valued at US$ 2.2 billion at current list prices. Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) endorsed a memorandum of understanding aimed at sharing experience and expertise to further develop cooperation on boosting performance. It was signed in the presence of GCAA Chairman Saif Al-Suwaidi and DGCA President Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah.

Abu Dhabi-based investment company, Mubadala, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Honeywell International to bring a suite of maintenance, repair and operations products to the Middle East. The MoU was signed by Badr Al Olama, Director of Aerospace at Mubadala, and Randy Anderson, President, Aerospace, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India at Honeywell.

The penultimate day of the Dubai Airshow saw two enormous aircraft purchase orders for both Airbus and Boeing, in one of the most exciting days in recent aviation business history. Airbus revealed its largest single announcement ever that morning – a US$49.5 billion deal with Indigo Partners to purchase 430 aircraft in its A320neo family, described as Airbus’ largest ever single announcement. Meanwhile Boeing firmed a US$27 billion deal with carrier

flydubai for 225 aircraft in its 737 MAX family, the largest-ever single-aisle jet order – by number of airplanes and total value – from a Middle East carrier.

The mammoth deal puts Indigo Partners among the biggest customers by order number for Airbus single-aisle aircraft. John Leahy, COO, Customer, Airbus Commercial Aircraft, described the deal as ‘remarkable’ and said: “It’s gratifying that [this order] comes from a group of airline professionals who know our products as well as the folks at Indigo Partners do. We are proud to augment [Indigo Partner’s] airline fleets in Latin America, North America and Europe with the single-aisle aircraft that offers the lowest operating costs, longest range and most spacious cabin. “Increasing demand for air travel will push jetliner sales to more than 34,000 worldwide in the next 20 years, according to Airbus’s 2017 global market forecast. Almost three-quarters of that will be single-aisle models according to Airbus.