Airbus announced commitments for 84 aircraft, including options, worth around $10.6 billion during the Farnborough airshow, reflecting an increasingly strong recovery in the world airliner market.
Etihad Airways’ commitment for 24 Airbus A330s, A340s and A380s, plus a further 12 options, worth a total of $7 billion, was the largest part of this business, followed by a deal with Turkish Airlines for 36 Airbus Family aircraft (31 single-aisles plus five A330-200s), and one for four A320s and eight options from new Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines. These commitments demonstrate the interest of the market for Airbus’ all new double deck A380 as well as for its best selling A330-200 and very long range A340 products.
In addition to the new business, Airbus presented awards to its top ten suppliers, recognising their efforts in product development and support. Airbus also renewed a long-term industrial co-operation with Turkish industry, for the construction of A320 Family fuselage panels.
Airbus’ success in airliner sales - it won more than 55 per cent of new orders worldwide in the first six months of 2004, and will this year again deliver the more than half the share of new aircraft - is the result of more than of a decade of investment in developing and refining the world’s most modern airliner family.
Airbus has booked the most orders in four out of the last five years and, last year, it delivered the most airliners for the first time.
This investment and development means that all of the Airbus passenger aircraft in production today enjoy advanced features - such as weight-saving composite structures, fuel-saving aerodynamic design that includes wingtip fences, and pilot and mechanic friendly cockpits, flying controls and systems. This technological fit comes as standard in all Airbus aircraft, at no extra charge.
Airbus is unique in offering a common cockpit in all of the passenger aircraft that it builds today. Also, thanks to their fly-by-wire systems allowing unequalled operational commonality, reducing training time and making it easier for pilots to move from one aircraft to another, the common cockpit also gives airlines greater freedom in the scheduling of their flights.
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