The world’s biggest airshow, the Paris Airshow will be officially opened today by French President Emmanuel Macron whose party yesterday who parliamentary majority in the French parliament elections. It is estimated that $100 billion worth of aircraft will be ordered.
The Paris Airshow, which was first staged at Le Bourget in 1909, are unlikely to be so wild when the 52nd iteration of the event starts today. Le Bourget airfield was the scene of mass excitement as Charles Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St Louis monoplane after making the first non-stop transatlantic flight between New York and Paris. That was 90 years ago.
As it has been in recent time, it’s a battle between bitter rivals Boeing and Airbus for contracts though the duopoly is not without challengers: Competition is looming, notably from Russia and China who have each been test-flying their own mid-range models.
U.S. planemaker, Boeing is expected to generate a fresh burst of activity by launching the 737 MAX 10 to plug a gap against European rival Airbus’s A321neo. Industry sources say the 190-230 seat plane could attract in the region of 150 orders by the event. For Airbus, it is close to clinching a roughly $5 billion deal with low-cost carrier Viva Air Peru for about 30 planes.
While demand for passenger jets may be faltering, there are signs interest in military aircraft is picking up after years in the doldrums due to budget cuts and weak economic growth. The new civilian aircraft orders will probably fall short of the US$130 billion the Paris show clocked up last time – mostly thanks to booming orders for Boeing and Airbus – the industry is still optimistic about sustained long-term growth.
Lockheed Martin is in the final stages of negotiating a $37 billion-plus deal to sell 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations including the United States, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. That would be the biggest deal yet for the stealthy warplane, set to make its Paris Airshow.
French President Emmanuel Macron was due to fly into the show on an Airbus A400M military transporter. His arrival is expected to be followed by a flypast by the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, and France’s aerial display team.
It is estimated that the world will need about 35,000 new planes worth US$5.3 trillion over the next two decades. The biennial Paris Airshow, which runs to June 25, is expected to attract 150,000 industry professionals from 2,370 companies.
