European aerospace giant Airbus has emerged as the winner in the traditional dog fight between it and giant US rival Boeing at this year’s Farnborough Airshow – with a total of 279 sales against 182.
Airbus’s haul is worth $35bn (£26.4bn) at full list prices and was made up of 197 firm orders and commitments – such as memoranda of understanding – for 82 aircraft. Airbus, which has its main wing development plant at Filton, performed especially well in the single-aisle, short haul sector. 
Boeing sales totalled £20.2bn. But while it increased its presence of its 787 Dreamliner wide-body aircraft in China, there were relatively few orders for the industry’s big jets, and none for either Airbus’s A380 superjumbo or Boeing’s 777.
And Airbus’ announcement that it is to halve A380 production to one a month from 2018 took the shine of its performance. However, chief executive Tom Enders said he hoped the cutbacks would last “just a year or two”.
Airbus was cheered by the high-profile order from Virgin Atlantic Airways for 12 of its A350-1000 long-range jetliners while low-cost carrier Air Asia announced it is to buy 100 Airbus A321neo jets to support its expansion.
The A321neo (new engine option) is a re-engineering of Airbus’s existing A320 short-haul family of aircraft and features wings fitted with pioneering sharklets designed at Filton to reduce fuel usage.
Airbus chief operating officer, customers, John Leahy said: “Our orders this week at Farnborough confirm a buoyant industry in which we have once again surpassed our competitor. In addition, airlines upsizing to the A321neo shows that this aircraft is the undisputed ‘middle-of-the-market’ champion.”
Farnborough organisers said the five days of business last week ahead of the public show had yielded orders and options for 856 aircraft and 1,407 engines worth a total of £93.5bn and had “defied industry expectations” of a quiet year.
However it was sharply down on the last Farnborough Airshow in 2014 when record-breaking deals worth £152.6bn were achieved. Farnborough alternatives on a yearly basis with the Paris air show.
European aerospace giant Airbus has emerged as the winner in the traditional dog fight between it and giant US rival Boeing at this year’s Farnborough Airshow – with a total of 279 sales against 182.
Airbus’s haul is worth $35bn (£26.4bn) at full list prices and was made up of 197 firm orders and commitments – such as memoranda of understandings – for 82 aircraft. Airbus, which has its main wing development plant at Filton, performed especially well in the single-aisle, short haul sector.
Boeing sales totalled £20.2bn. But while it increased its presence of its 787 Dreamliner wide-body aircraft in China, there were relatively few orders for the industry’s big jets, and none for either Airbus A380 superjumbo or Boeing’s 777.
And Airbus’ announcement that it is to halve A-380 production to one a month from 2018 took the shine of its performance. However, chief executive Tom Enders said he hoped the cutbacks would last “just a year or two”.
Airbus was cheered by the high-profile order from Virgin Atlantic Airways for 12 of its A350-1000 long-range jetliners, pictured above in a CGI image, while low-cost carrier Air Asia announced it is to buy 100 Airbus A321neo jets to support its expansion.
The A321neo (new engine option) is a re-engineering of Airbus’s existing A320 short-haul family of aircraft and features wings fitted with pioneering sharklets designed at Filton to reduce fuel usage.
Airbus chief operating officer, customers, John Leahy said: “Our orders this week at Farnborough confirm a buoyant industry in which we have once again surpassed our competitor. In addition, airlines upsizing to the A321neo shows that this aircraft is the undisputed ‘middle-of-the-market’ champion.”
Farnborough organisers said the five days of business last week ahead of the public show had yielded orders and options for 856 aircraft and 1,407 engines worth a total of £93.5bn and had “defied industry expectations” of a quiet year.
However it was sharply down on the last Farnborough Airshow in 2014 when record-breaking deals worth £152.6bn were achieved. Farnborough alternatives on a yearly basis with the Paris air show.
