Airbus hopes to outmanoeuvre Boeing at Dubai Airshow

The eagerly awaited announcements of Arabian Gulf carriers at the Dubai Airshow will once again illustrate the region’s immense influence on the business of passenger aviation.

Airbus hopes its A320 will sell well in Dubai after a strong showing for the model at the Paris Air Show in June. Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

It is a show within a show and a good deal more than a sideshow.

As 60,000 trade visitors and 1,000 exhibitors gather today for the Dubai Airshow at its purpose-built new home Dubai World Central (DWC), a master-planned aerotropolis, a clash of the aviation giants will take centre stage.

Both France's Airbus and the US' Boeing expect to land orders for new aircraft that will help to determine the prospects for each company in their pursuit of commercial prosperity and supremacy in the skies.

And the eagerly awaited announcements of Arabian Gulf carriers will once again illustrate the region’s immense influence on the business of passenger aviation.

“The Middle East is the battleground where the fortunes [of each maker’s new products] could be largely won or lost,” declares Aviation Week, a well respected industry magazine.

Etihad Airways is reported to be in discussion on placing new or expanded orders with Airbus, the targets perhaps including the A320neo, with enhanced fuel economy to improve the company's most successful medium-haul plane, and further purchases of the A350 long-haul jet.

The home-based carrier is also said to be in the final stages of concluding a new order with Boeing. According to a Reuters report, at least one of the deals could be announced at the Dubai show.

Additionally, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways have promised big announcements during the event, prompting speculation they will place substantial orders for Boeing's new generation of 777s.

The Financial Times of London has said the purchase of 100-175 of the wide-body 777X aircraft, also more fuel efficient than its predecessors, is likely to figure in a multibillion-dollar Emirates deal.

Etihad’s interest is believed by aviation observers to centre on the same model while the Qatar carrier has refused to deny rumours that it also wants to buy 777Xs.

But Qatar is among Airbus’ most prized customers, too, with current orders for 80 aircraft as the launch buyer of all three variants of the A350, with a target of next year for the first models to enter service.

In the fight for the hearts and minds of passengers, and the purchasing clout of the airlines, Airbus and Boeing even squabble over comfort.

Reuters recently highlighted a dispute between the rival manufacturers on the width of economy-class seats on long-distance flights which, the news agency said, set the tone for “a bitter confrontation” at the Dubai Airshow.

Whereas Airbus wanted an industry standard providing that each seat was at least 46cm wide, Boeing insisted it should be left to carriers to decide. Airbus was reported to have produced draft advertisements showing three people squashed together in a restaurant with the question “Would you accept this?”; Boeing disputed its competitor’s measurements and claimed cabin experience depended on more than seat width.

Whether or not such matters are aired again at DWC, Airbus is still basking in the glow of what it hails as a successful 50th Paris Air Show in June.

The company, which employs more than 60,000 people at its plants in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain, says it secured business worth US$68.7 billion for 466 planes at the show. It hailed this as a sales achievement that “shows the resilience of the commercial aviation industry”.

It lists among stand-out deals a decision by the UK’s EasyJet to buy 100 A320neos and 35 A320ceos. The A320 series was further boosted by Germany’s Lufthansa’s commitment to take 100 planes. Airbus said additional orders and commitments for what it call the A320 “family” came from Hong Kong Aviation Capital (60 aircraft), the leading US aircraft lessor ILFC (50), the US low-cost carrier Spirit (20) and Tunisia’s Syphax Airlines (3). The manufacturer said the Tunisian deal was the first from any African source for the A320neo, which offers lower fuel consumption, operating costs and noise levels.

Ahead of the Dubai Airshow, now established as a major event in world aviation, Paris also saw an Airbus first: the maiden flight of the A350 XWB (extra wide body) on June 14. Air France-KLM, Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and Sri Lankan placed, between them, orders and commitments for 69 planes valued at $21.4bn.

The company’s own review of its performance says a strong showing this year continued last month with 153 order bookings and 59 deliveries. Airbus said this brought its backlog of orders to “a new industry record of nearly 5,400 aircraft – representing some eight years of output at full production rates”.

John Leahy, Airbus’ chief operating officer (customers), joked the dramatic weather conditions of the Paris event, held amid heavy rainfall and thunder storms, had failed to “dampen our order intake”.

This week in Dubai should offer a drier, sunnier setting for the assembled buyers and sellers from global aviation. If the business climate is also warm, so much the better for Airbus and the other exhibitors.