Airbus soars with huge order, as Boeing stumbles

[mr friendly guy]

http://au.biz.yahoo.com/071011/33/1frmj.html

Airbus soars with huge order, as Boeing stumbles

Friday October 12, 2007, 3:52 am

MADRID (AFP) - Airbus was flying high Thursday after the European planemaker received a huge order just days before the first delivery of its superjumbo A380 and as archrival Boeing announced delays on its highly touted 787 Dreamliner programme.

Airbus signed a deal on Thursday to sell 61 aircraft, including four A380s, to Spanish travel group Marsans, which owns Aerolineas Argentinas and the Madrid-based Air Comet, Marsans said.

The Spanish company, which is seeking to become a major global air transport operator, said it also confirmed orders for a further 12 aircraft, in a deal worth a total of 7.0 billion dollars (almost 5.0 billion euros).

The A380 is the world's largest civilian airliner and can carry up 800 passengers. It has been seen as critical to Airbus' bid to catch up with US rival Boeing in their cutthroat battle for supremacy in the civil aviation market.

News of delivery delays to the A380 last year hit the company hard. But the orders are now on the rise and the first A380 is expected to be delivered to Singapore Airlines on Monday, with the inaugural flight scheduled for October 25 from Singapore to Sydney.

Meanwhile shares of Airbus' parent company, European aerospace manufacturer EADS, rose on the Paris Bourse Thursday after Boeing announced delays in deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner jets, the competitor to the A380 and seen as the future profit driver for the US aviation giant.

Boeing said Wednesday the first deliveries would not come until December 2008, six month later than planned. The first test flights were pushed back to next March.

A Marsans spokesman said the order signed Thursday in Madrid comprised four A380s, 10 A350s, 42 A320s, five A330s, plus 12 A330s previously ordered in December 2006. The planes will be operational between 2008 and 2014.

Airbus confirmed the order in a statement, although it did not put a value on it.

The deal is part of "Marsans' expansion plan in the Latin American and Spanish markets," a Marsans spokesman told AFP.

The order "demonstrates our commitment to enhancing our group's position on the short and long haul networks by incorporating the most efficient aircraft on the market today," the Airbus statement quoted Marsans president Gonzalo Pascual as saying.

"Furthermore with the A380, we will become the first A380 customer and operator in Spain and South America."

Marsans is currently seeking to buy Spain's second largest airline, Spanair, from Scandinavian travel group SAS.

It hopes to link Spanair with its two existing carriers to form a global operator.

Spanair has flights to destinations in Spain, North Africa and Central Europe, while Aerolineas Argentinas and Air Comet operate long distance routes.

Marsans, founded in 1910, has gone from operating buses to tour groups and hotels, and now hopes to be a major world player in the air tranportation

Posted without comment

[Starglider]

Moderately good news for Airbus, though nothing spectacular, various Boeing fanboys keep saying 'oh 6 months delay is nothing', and to be fair it probably isn't that significant (unless it slips again).

So really only notable as a break from the Airbus doom and gloom we've seen all over the place recently.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Moderately good news for Airbus, though nothing spectacular, various Boeing fanboys keep saying 'oh 6 months delay is nothing', and to be fair it probably isn't that significant (unless it slips again).

So really only notable as a break from the Airbus doom and gloom we've seen all over the place recently.

I think France and Germany are still at each others' throats over a few things.

[Sea Skimmer]

12 aircraft is hardly a huge order when you consider the A380 already had 190 orders, and yet needs ‘more then 420’ just to break even on the project. I say more then 420 because Airbus refuses to release the true figure which has been revised upwards.

I’m not surprised by the 787 delays, unlike the A380 which is just big and designed on uncoordinated software, the 787 actually has major technological and manufacturing advances.

The 787 has 710 confirmed orders alone BTW, if you count options and unconfirmed orders its well over 1000 planes. I never have seen a break even point for the plane, but its hard to see it not being met with this kind of volume.

I think France and Germany are still at each others' throats over a few things.

I do believe they worked out a firm deal on job cuts actually, but you can be sure they’ll have more trouble in the future.

[CmdrWilkens]

12 aircraft is hardly a huge order when you consider the A380 already had 190 orders, and yet needs ‘more then 420’ just to break even on the project. I say more then 420 because Airbus refuses to release the true figure which has been revised upwards.

Its not even that, only 4 of the sold craft are A380s. The total sales announced includes 57 other planes to help buoy the bottom line but realistically this is upping the A380 order negligibly.