Airline News
Airbus beats Boeing in year-to-date orders and says Bombardier deal is off
October 9th 2015
Airbus won orders for 121 aircraft in September, including 110 A321neos from European low-cost carrier, Wizz Air, taking the number of net orders after cancellations to 815 for the first nine months of the year. Read More » U.S. rival, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, booked 449 net orders in the period to September 29, according to its website, however this includes a larger number of wide bodies than Airbus.
On Wednsday, Airbus Group issued a statement that confirmed it had been exploring business opportunities with Bombardier, but said that the discussions were no longer being pursued. No other details were provided and Airbus said it would make no further comment. Bombardier issued a statement afterwards that said "discussions occurred ... regarding certain business opportunities”, and added “as previously mentioned, it would continue to explore initiatives such as a potential participation in industry consolidation". This Week in Asia-Pacific Aviation understands Bombardier had asked Airbus to help it complete development of its delayed CSeries in exchange for a controlling stake in the program.
Separately, Airbus is on track to meet its delivery target for this year, despite delays at cabin suppliers, Fabrice Bregier, head of the European plane maker, said on Wednesday. Bregier criticized suppliers whose delays have disrupted some deliveries and said the problems went beyond French seat supplier Zodiac Aerospace, which has had a series of high-profile production delays and profit warnings, causing airlines like American Airlines to switch suppliers. "The majority of them are very good at marketing and selling and less good at certifying and crap at producing," Bregier told a group of journalists after the Finnair A350 delivery flight, adding the larger A350-1000 variant was on track for first delivery in 2017.
He also said a recent glitch with Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1100G-JM engine during flight testing of the A320neo in the UAE would not threaten first delivery of the re-engined narrow body before year-end. "We are in the final phase of flight testing. Was it as smooth as we expected? No. Does it mean that we will fail? No. We will deliver," Bregier said.
Earlier in the week, Airbus suggested second-hand A380s could join the fleets of Asian LCCs plying six- to eight-hour routes after a Bloomberg report highlighted the fact that Singapore Airlines’ first A380 lease, on sale-leaseback from German investor, Dr. Peters Gruppe, would expire in mid-2017, leading to speculation about the model’s residual value.
At the Paris Air Show in June, Airbus chief operating officer customers, John Leahy, said he would secure 25 new A380 orders this year. At press time, none had been announced.
