$180bn contracts struck at 50th International Paris Air Show

The 50^th International Paris Air Show 17 – 23 June 2013 at Paris-Le Bourget airport. The first 4 days of the Show, exclusively for trade visitors, are followed by 3 days for the general public.

At the 2013 Paris Air Show, Airbus won US$68.7 billion worth of business for a total of 466 aircraft, which shows the resilience of the commercial aviation industry. The deals comprise Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for 225 aircraft worth US$29.4 billion and firm purchase orders for 241 aircraft worth US$39.3 billion.

The A320 Family, spearheaded by the A320neo, continues its trailblazing success in the single-aisle market with 371 orders and commitments from six customers announced at the show, worth approximately $37.8 billion. Of these, 88 were for the A320ceo – showing that today’s in-production aircraft is still the most sought-after industry workhorse. A stand-out commitment during the show for the A320 Family was the announcement from easyJet for 100 A320neos plus 35 A320ceos – the winning result of a very intense competition. Another major endorsement for the A320 Family came from Lufthansa with the firming-up of 100 more aircraft. Additional A320 Family orders and commitments came from: Hong Kong Aviation Capital for 60; ILFC for 50; Spirit for 20; and Tunisia’s Syphax Airlines for three – significantly the first A320neo commitment from Africa.

Another star at Paris was the A350 XWB which flew for the first time on Friday 14th June 2013 and successfully completed its second flight on Wednesday 19th June. At the show this aircraft gained 69 more orders & commitments worth $21.4 billion from four customers on different continents. Air France-KLM placed a firm order for 25 A350-900s. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines, already a large customer for the type, returned to order 30 more A350-900s; United Airlines also placed an additional A350 order for 10 A350-1000s — not only bringing its total A350 orders to 35, but also upgrading its previous order for 25 A350-900s to the larger A350-1000 model to replace its Boeing 777s. In addition, Sri Lankan signed a commitment for four A350-900s to complement an order for six A330-300s at the show.

At the top end of the product range, the flagship A380 received a commitment for 20 aircraft from the world’s third largest wide-body lessor, Doric Lease Corp, in a deal worth more than $8 billion. The contract with Doric is significant as it opens up a new, additional route to market for the A380, which is now available to airlines who wish to acquire the aircraft under the flexibility of an operating lease agreement.

The 50th edition of the Paris Air Show was the best in the history of the Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. Over the course of the week, the turboprop aircraft manufacturer announced orders for 173 planes, including 83 firm orders at the air show (see Table 1). The total value for these contracts exceeds 4.1 billion dollars (including 2 billion dollars in firm orders).

The landmark order from Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for 91 ATR 72-600s (of which 36 are firm) confirms the great attractiveness of ATR to leasing companies. Alongside the NAC aircraft orders, are the five ATR 72-600 aircraft ordered by the U.S. lessor Air Lease Corporation (ALC).

Latin America was also a significant client for ATR at the Paris Air Show. Twenty ATR 72-600s (including 10 firm aircraft orders) from HGI Aircraft Division for the Brazilian airline Passaredo Linhas Aéreas confirmed the great popularity of ATRs in Brazil, a market where the manufacturer has recorded firm orders for 59 aircraft in the last three years. For its part, the national airline Avianca took delivery of its first ATR 72-600 at the Air Show, which is the first stage of a major campaign to modernize its fleet of regional aircraft and a significant expansion of its regional networks in Colombia and Central America. To date, Avianca has placed fifteen firm orders for ATR 72-600s, and also has options for 15 more aircraft. Over 200 ATRs will be in operation in Latin America within the next two years, which is why ATR and Avianca have also announced their partnership in opening a new training center for pilots, approved by ATR, in Bogota, Colombia. This center will be available to the 30 ATR operators in Latin America.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) enjoyed a strong and productive Paris Air Show launching its newest model, the 787-10 Dreamliner, announcing important commercial airplane orders and strengthening alliances and relationships with customers and partners around the world.

The innovative 787-8 Dreamliner in Air India livery flew for the first time at the Paris Air Show, and the Qatar Airways 787 on static display attracted hundreds of customers, partners, government officials and news media. The ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system, produced by Boeing subsidiary Insitu, was part of the U.S. Corral display throughout the show.

Over the past week, customers have demonstrated their strong confidence in the full family of Boeing commercial products – the Next-Generation 737, 737 MAX, 787, 777 and 747-8, announcing orders and commitments for 442 Boeing airplanes, valued at more than $66 billion. Additional orders for 20 Next-Generation 737s and 20 737 MAX airplanes from unidentified customer(s).

Boeing announced during the show key partnerships with Embraer on the sales and marketing of Embraer’s KC-390 medium-size transport, and with Sikorsky on a joint venture to compete for sustainment services in support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ s rotorcraft fleet. The U.S. Marine Corps V-22 Program Manager reported that operational success of the Bell-Boeing tilt-rotor played a key role in the recent award of a $6.5 billion multi-year contract for 99 aircraft. Boeing also announced that work has begun at Le Bourget on a $354 million Mid-Life Upgrade contract with Air France Industries to upgrade four French E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.