Qatar signs $17b deals with Airbus

Le Bourget: European planemaker Airbus landed $17 billion in orders from Qatar Airways at the start of the Paris Air Show yesterday including a new order for three A380 superjumbos.

The deals include confirmation of a previously announced order for 80 new Airbus A350 XWB models due from 2013, worth $16 billion at list prices, and three additional A380s worth almost $1 billion in total.

Qatar had already ordered three of the A380 superjumbo aircraft with options for another two.

Qatar will be the first airline to get the revamped A350 in 2013, Airbus President Louis Gallois told a news conference, as Airbus seeks to make up ground on sales by US rival Boeing Co.

The order includes 20 A350-800s, 40 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s.

That also translates into a big order worth $5.6 billion at list prices for Rolls-Royce, currently the only engine maker offering an engine for the Airbus A350 XWB model.

Bigger rival

Rolls-Royce said the deal represents its largest ever firm civil engine order. Rolls rival General Electric has been in talks with Airbus about providing an alternative engine for the mid-sized long-range aircraft but has not yet committed to the plane.

The Airbus XWB is a bigger rival to the Boeing 787 which is due to hit the market in 2008, prompting some analysts to suggest the XWB is more likely to take business away from Boeing's larger and older 777 model.

Brokerage analysts expect deals for at least 300 planes at the event which runs until June 24, including an order for 50 Boeing 787s expected from International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), a unit of insurance company American International Group Inc.

That would mean a business tally of about $30 billion for the air show, keeping Boeing and Airbus on track for another year of $100 billion in airliner sales at list prices.

Deep discounts are common, however, and analysts will be looking closely at the deals done at Paris to assess whether

Airbus, in particular, is gaining or losing pricing power as it looks to claw back its slipping market share.

Boeing led the annual battle for orders by 417 to 201 for Airbus as of the end of May.

In defence, Boeing will display its C-17 transport plane and F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet and Airbus parent EADS will have three mid-air refuelling planes at the show, underscoring its hopes of cracking Boeing's long reign in that market.

Regional airliner makers Bombardier of Canada and Brazil's Embraer are also attending as is Russia's Sukhoi, which is less than a year away from flying its new Superjet 100 regional jet, one of several planes in the offing which could make headlines at Paris.

$2.4b pact: Jazeera to buy 30 A320 jets

European planemaker Airbus said yesterday it has secured an order for 30 A320 family aircraft from Kuwait's Jazeera Airways.

The order is worth between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion, Airbus, a unit of Europe's EADS, said at the Paris Air Show.

That brings the A320 orders from Jazeera, a private airline company launched in Kuwait in 2005, to 40, adding to a previous order for 10 aircarft. Of those, Jazeera has taken delivery of five.