by: TN Media News:
An aerial view of airplanes at the Paris Air Show, which is expected to yield a bounty of jetliner orders for Boeing Co. and Airbus SE, with India’s IndiGo starting things off with a record-breaking splash. Here’s a snapshot of the major announcements so far:
Airbus secured the biggest aircraft order in aviation history, notching a 500-plane deal with IndiGo. The mammoth accord for Airbus’s top-selling A320 family of single-aisle jets brings IndiGo’s order backlog to close to 1,000 planes.
Saudi Arabia’s Flynas firmed an order for an added 30 Airbus A320 aircraft, as the low-cost carrier leans into the gulf state’s massive tourism push. The accord is part of a deal to purchase 120 jetliners for its all-Airbus fleet. The board aims to increase its aircraft order book to 250 planes as it expands.
Airbus agreed to build military and civilian helicopters in Saudi Arabia with local defense company Scopa Industries Corp. in a deal valued at more than 25 billion riyals ($6.7 billion).
Construction of the helicopter factory is expected to begin early next year, Scopa CEO Fawaz Alakeel said in an interview from the Paris Air Show. The plant will be able to produce up to 100 military and commercial helicopters a year by the end of the decade, he said.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said there’s a risk that airlines are ordering too many aircraft, “at least in our region”. Emirates has said it wants to buy more aircraft, and Turkish Airways is also in the market for additional jets.
Riyadh Air has announced orders as it builds a new airline in Saudi Arabia. “We have players flooding the market with huge number of planes, I just hope that they’re doing this right,” Al Baker said
Boeing Co. plans to reach a monthly build rate of 42 aircraft on its bestselling 737 Max model before the end of the year, Stan Deal, the manufacturer’s head of commercial operations, said at the air show.
The company is also laying the groundwork for a step-up to a monthly pace of 48 jets over time, he said.
