DOGFIGHT AT PARIS AIR SHOW
Boeing bags 240 orders for 737 MAX 10 while Airbus closes in on US$5b deal
PARIS
BOEING unveiled a new member of its best-selling 737 aircraft range, injecting new life into a faltering civil aviation market as French President Emmanuel Macron flew in to open the Paris Airshow yesterday.
After years of booming orders, driven by rising air travel and more fuel-efficient planes, passenger jetmakers are bracing for a slowdown in demand while they focus on meeting tight delivery schedules and ambitious produc- tion targets.
But Boeing generated a fresh burst of activity at the world’s biggest airshow by launching the 737 MAX 10 to plug a gap in its portfolio at the top end of the market for single-aisle jets following runaway sales of European rival Airbus’s A321neo.
The American planemaker said it had more than 240 orders and commitments from at least 10 customers for the new plane, which can carry up to 230 people in a single-class configuration.
“The MAX 10 is going to add more value for customers and more energy to the marketplace,” said Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg.
But industry sources said Airbus would immediately hit back with a large order for the A321neo.
Sources said that Airbus was close to clinching a US$5 billion (RM21.36 billion) deal with lowcost carrier Viva Air Peru.
Airbus will announce an order for 10 of its A350-900 wide-body jets as well, industry sources added.
While demand for passenger jets may be faltering, there are signs interest in military aircraft is picking up after years in the doldrums due to budget cuts and weak economic growth.
Lockheed Martin is in the final stages of negotiating a US$37 billion-plus deal to sell 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations, including the United States.
That would be the biggest deal yet for the stealthy warplane, set to make its Paris Airshow debut this week.
In another boost for a defence project, Macron flew into the show on an Airbus A400M military transporter in his first official engagement.
His arrival was followed by a flypast by the world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, and France’s aerial display team.
The ceremony lent support to two ambitious European aerospace projects tarnished by recent problems: the A400M because of chronic cost overruns and the A380 because weak sales threatens its future.
Airbus said on Sunday it was working on an upgrade of the A380 called the A380plus.
Boeing, however, is expected to say at the show that demand for mammoth planes such as the A380 and its own 747 was moribund. Agencies