Farnborough sales bonanza shows industry confidence

The Farnborough sales bonanza saw over $42 billion worth of orders placed for airliners and regional jets, making the show the most successful on record. Leasing companies dominated the order announcements, accounting for almost 80%, or $25.8 billion, of the orders taken by Airbus Industrie and Boeing.

The big two took over $33.3 billion's worth of orders, equating to 367 units (see table). The magnitude of these orders can be gauged by considering that Airbus and Boeing's airliner revenue for all of 1999 was $54.8 billion.

Airbus won the show sales battle with rival Boeing, taking 64% of the orders worth over $18 billion. Things were fairly even at the lower end, with regional jet manufacturers Bombardier and Embraer notching up $4.5 billion and $4.25 billion, respectively.

The Airbus order tally includes its first A3XX commitments, which although only accounting for 22 of its 238 orders, represent a quarter of the consortium's total revenue (at list prices). Boeing's proportion of the orders is closer to Airbus in value terms as the US manufacturer took a higher proportion of widebody orders.

Top leasing company buyer was International Lease Finance, which has placed 137 orders worth an estimated $13.7 billion - amounting for half of the total placed by lessors at the show.

The Farnborough deals take total Airbus/Boeing orders for the year to more than 900 units, split almost equally between the two. This compares to 870 orders for the whole of last year, suggesting that industry confidence is now on the rebound.

Source: Flight International