Business has been extremely active in the commercial market, dominated by Boeing and Airbus, this week at Le Bourget.
News from McDonnell Douglas, however, was conspicuously absent this year.
Boeing started the week in the limelight over its discussions about the proposed merger with McDonnell Douglas.
Boeing hit the headlines again with a claim from Jean Pierson, president of Airbus Industrie, that exclusive sales deals between Boeing and several American airlines contravene European competitive law. Pierson called on the European authorities to tackle the airlines - Continental being the most recent.
While Boeing kept a fairly low profile, Airbus Industrie captured the high ground with the commercial launch of the for-engined A340-600 and -500, whose development costs are expected to be $2.5 billion. The product launch is due around September this year, with delivery in late 2001.
Sales have been booming, with millions of dollars of orders announced this week.
Airbus made a first here at Le Bourget when officials announced a potentially billion-dollar deal for five A330-220s with the type's first Latin American customer TAM, with an option for a further five.
Finnair also chose a mix of A319s, A320s and A321s in a deal worth $388 million, with an option for a further 24. This is the first Nordic operator to opt for Airbus for some years, and will be replacing its fleet of McDonnell Douglas types.
Boeing meanwhile sold seven 737s, five of them new generation -600s, to the Sunrock Aircraft Corporation, the Dublin-based Japanese leasing company.
Source: Flight Daily News
