FRANCE: EUROPEAN PLANE MAKERS AIRBUS UNVEIL RECORD JET ORDER FROM DUBAI-BASED AIRLINE EMIRATES

Record ID: 854059

  • Title: FRANCE: EUROPEAN PLANE MAKERS AIRBUS UNVEIL RECORD JET ORDER FROM DUBAI-BASED AIRLINE EMIRATES
  • Date: 18th June 2003
  • Summary: (W7) LE BOURGET, FRANCE (JUNE 14, 2003) (REUTERS) SLV AIRBUS A 340-600 ON TARMAC AND TAKING OFF; AV A340-600 IN SKY (3 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LE BOURGET, FRANCE
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Business,General,Technology,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVAEVNE24GIW69SD13JB829G0YK2
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  • Story Text: European plane maker Airbus unveiled a record 12.5 billion United States dollars jet order from Dubai-based airline Emirates extending its lead over U.S. arch-rival Boeing as the Paris Air Show kicked into top gear.
    Dubai-based airline Emirates unveiled the first major jet order of the Paris Air Show on Monday (June 16, 2003), confirming it would purchase 41 wide-body planes from Airbus, including 21 of its 555-seat A380 superjumbos.
    The deal, which was widely flagged ahead of time, is seen worth around 12.5 billion USD at catalogue prices and brings total firm orders for the A380 to 116. That could climb to 124 soon if contracts are signed with Malaysia Airline System and Qatar Airways, Airbus said in a statement.
    Airbus said Britains Rolls-Royce would supply the engines for two A340-500 and 18 A340-600 planes ordered by Emirates.
    The choice of engines for the remaining 21 A380s was not given.
    Taking advantage of a crippling airline industry crisis to lock in discount rates, state-owned Emirates also announced plans to lease 26 Boeing 777 planes.
    None of those represent new orders for the Chicago-based aircraft maker, whose order book for the year stands at 38, compared to 197 for Airbus.
    The Airbus deal includes the purchase of 21 A380 superjumbos and makes Emirates by far the largest customer for the huge 555-seater that airlines will begin operating from 2006.
    Airbus said the deal, which brings its firm A380 backlog to 116, represented its largest wide-body order ever by number of planes and by dollar value.
    The 12.5 billion USD price tag is based on future value catalogue prices, Airbus said, though aircraft manufacturers routinely offer hefty discounts.
    At 1515 GMT, shares in Airbus parent EADS stood 3.3 percent higher at 10.82 euros. Boeing stock was 1.2 percent higher at
    77 euros.
    The deal comes amid an unprecedented downturn in the civil aerospace market that has sent top U.S. airlines US Airways and United Airlines into bankruptcy.
    Emirates airline, a unit of Emirates Group, has defied the crisis, posting a 94-percent rise in profit in its financial year ended March 31.
    The Dubai government is aiming to boost annual visitors to 15 million by 2010 from 3.4 million in 2000.
    In addition to the 21 superjumbos, Emirates agreed to purchase two A340-500 and 18 A340-600 planes from Airbus.
    Britains Rolls-Royce will supply the engines for those 20 jets in a deal valued at 900 million USD. Emirates did not announce its choice of engines for the A380s.
    It is also leasing an additional two A340-600s and two A380 superjumbos from lessor ILFC, a unit of American International Group. That means Emirates, which already had an outstanding order for 21 A380s, is now due to receive a total of 45 of the double-decker giants.
    Airbus advertises the superjumbo as a luxury liner replete with lounges, duty-free shops, bars and casinos. But Emirates said its plans for the jet were more conservative.
    Airbus said deliveries of the A340-500 planes would begin at the end of 2004, those of the A340-600s in June 2007 and the A380s in the spring of 2009.
    Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, is 80-percent owned by European aerospace giant EADS, with the rest held by BAE Systems Plc of the UK.
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