Farnborough Airshow: Civil orders strong, defence down

The 2012 Farnborough International Airshow, being held near London, is taking wing at a difficult time for Europe’s economy.

But the aviation and defence market is still being driven by growth in the Asia Pacific region and some Middle Eastern countries.

As well as the usual battle for orders for new airliners – dominated by Boeing and Airbus – but with other companies playing an increasingly aggressive role, Farnborough is one of the most important events for military aircraft sales and to showcase the latest aviation related weapons technology.

Attractions included the appearance of Qatar Airways’ first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It has 60 on order.

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker was on hand with Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ new boss Ray Conner for the unveiling, which included an aerial display by the Dreamliner.

A confident Conner said: “We’ll be hiring a lot of new people in the course of the next few years” and Boeing landed the first blow in the orders’ battle with US firm Air Lease announcing it would buy 75 Boeing 737s, a rival to the Airbus A320neo. It followed that up with a provisional deal to sell 100 737 airliners to leasing firm GECAS.

On Tuesday Airbus announced a potential order for its A350 passenger jet with Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific. That is a major boost for the European planemaker, which has been struggling to sell its A350-1000 “mini-jumbo” and make a dent in Boeing’s hold on the lucrative corner of the passenger jet market, just below 400 seats.

Technical problems meant the Airbus 400 M military transport plane had to pull out of a promised flying display. They are always one of the most popular elements of the week-long event.

Aeroplane enthusiasts always turn out in droves for the military exhibits, but this year the buyers have not been so numerous as government spending cuts mean falls in defence orders.

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