Airbus could top Boeing for orders at Paris Air Show

Airbus SAS, the world's second-largest planemaker, may eclipse rival Boeing Co at the Paris Air Show, as airlines including Emirates and Qatar Airways prepare orders worth at least US$11 billion.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus will get an Emirates order for 30 planes worth US$6.5 billion and may sweep a Qatar order for as many as 30 planes worth US$4.6 billion, people familiar with the airlines' plans said last month. Boeing is likely to win an Emirates order for 25 777s worth US$5 billion at the show, the aerospace industry's biggest event, used by planemakers to brag about new business.

Airbus is aiming to beat Chicago-based Boeing in deliveries this year for the first time as both planemakers struggle with the worst slump ever in civil aviation. Airlines will have losses totaling US$30 billion by year's end since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because of a drop in demand for air travel, according to the International Air Transport Association.

"Airbus has developed quite nicely and is now ahead in the competition, especially with new orders," said Klaus Breil, who helps oversee about US$5.9 billion at Adig Investments in Frankfurt, including 1 million shares in European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co, which owns 80 percent of Airbus.

The show runs for a week, beginning Sunday, in Le Bourget, France, outside Paris. It alternates each year with a show in Farnborough, England.

At the last Paris show in 2001, Airbus announced orders for 155 aircraft worth about US$13 billion, while Boeing had orders for three 777s valued US$200 million. During last year's Farnborough show, Boeing won orders for just 16 planes worth US$1.7 billion and Airbus six worth US$780 million as airlines held back from buying new planes. Demand for air travel fell as much as one-third after the terrorist attacks in 2001.

Airbus expecting new orders at the show for the A380, the superjumbo plane that's scheduled to enter service in 2006 and has a list price of US$260 million. The European planemaker is spending US$12 billion on the development of the aircraft, which will surpass Boeing's 420-seat 747 as the largest commercial passenger plane.

Half the development money is coming from European government loans and risk-sharing industrial partners. The US planemaker decided that there wasn't enough of a market to make a profit on a giant new plane and has no direct competitor.

Airbus will receive an Emirates order for 20 A380s during the show and may get a signature from Malaysian Airlines systems for another six of the planes which the Asian carrier committed to in January. Airbus also has been in talks with Korean Airlines over at least six of the Aircraft.

The European planemaker has 97 firm orders for the aircraft and has said it needs 250 to break even on the project. Dubai-based Emirates already has ordered 22 of the planes and with the new order, will account for one-third of the backlog.