The battle for orders between Airbus and Boeing showed little sign of slowing on Tuesday as a deal for up to 20 of the latest Airbus, the A350, took business announced at the Dubai Air Show to over USD$20 billion.
US-based International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), owned by insurer American International Group (AIG), said it would buy 12 of the mid-sized A350, due in 2010, and could take as many as eight more.
A day earlier ILFC signed a USD$2.7 billion deal to buy 20 of the rival Boeing 787 model.
"This is the first time we have ever made two big announcements at Dubai and it's no coincidence. This region is one of our fastest growing," ILFC President and Chief Operating Officer John Plueger told reporters.
He said just under 10 percent of ILFC's fleet of 750 planes were being operated in the Middle East and he expected that figure to double in five years.
Plueger said ILFC would sign for more 787s and A350s in the future.
The Dubai Air Show, held every two years, runs until Thursday but has already quadrupled the value of business announced here in 2003.
Planemakers Bombardier and ATR have sold planes, and General Electric and Rolls-Royce have scooped engine and maintenance deals.
Between them, Boeing and Airbus have announced deals for almost 130 planes in the last three days in Dubai, and for more than 220 aircraft including business announced elsewhere in recent days.
Boeing and Airbus are now heading for a record year in combined orders and are close to doubling their 2004 combined tally of 647.
Not surprisingly, the mood among aerospace executives at the Dubai Air Show is buoyant as fat order books have airlines scrambling to buy now to avoid waiting for deliveries which on some planes could now take more than five years.
"It's really gratifying to see this kind of momentum as we head for the end of the year," Scott Carson, Boeing's commercial airplanes vice president for sales said.
Airbus top salesman John Leahy this week boldly vowed to close a 200 plane gap in orders on Boeing by the end of the year and France's Dassault Aviation said it too was enjoying better times, with its luxurious Falcon business jets on course for its record sales this year.
