Airbus SAS, the world’s largest aircraft maker, can double the 131 orders it received in the first half during this week’s Farnborough Air Show as global travel rebounds, chief operating officer John Leahy said.
“You’ll be surprised by some of the announcements we’ll make,” Leahy told journalists at a press conference in London on Saturday. “The world economy is turning around, we’re tracking this every month. Traffic is back both in the front of the aircraft and in the back.”
Leahy predicted the company, the world’s largest maker of commercial aircraft, will secure more orders for the A380 super-jumbo this year, after Emirates Airline Ltd agreed to buy an additional 32 units of the largest passenger jet last month, bringing its A380 backlog to 90.
The jet is attractive to the Middle Eastern carrier because it can connect 95 percent of the global population through its Dubai hub, Leahy said.
The A380 is operated by five airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Deutsche Lufthansa, Qantas Airways and Air France KLM.
Airbus delivered its 10th A380, which typically seats more than 500 passengers, for this year last week, and plans to hand over more than 20 units in total this year.
Leahy said the jet is sold out until 2015, and that the program will likely break even a year before then.
The biannual Farnborough Air Show is the industry’s biggest showcase, with exhibitors from 38 countries signed up to come this year.
Boeing Co, which was taken over by Airbus as the industry leader in 2003, has brought its 787 Dreamliner model to the show, the jet’s first appearance in Europe.
The Dreamliner jet landed in Farnborough airport at 9:08am yesterday after its first flight outside of the US, watched by journalists from around the world.
Boeing is hanging its future hopes on the mid-sized plane, which draws on huge advances in aviation technology and is capable of flying long-haul routes with up to 20 percent less fuel.
However, Boeing said on Thursday that it might have to further postpone first deliveries until early next year.
Among those likely to place orders at the show are leasing companies, which had held back during the recession.
Steven Udvar-Hazy, who left International Lease Finance Corp this year to form Air Lease Corp, has secured US$3.3 billion in financing and has begun acquiring aircraft.
“The market’s coming back,” said Louis Gallois, chief executive of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. “We have a backlog that looks good, we have lots of visibility and sense more and more that companies are interested.”
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