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Airbus Could Outdo Last Year’s Record Deliveries: Enders

DUBAI — Airbus is on track this year to match and possibly supress its the 2008 delivery record of 483 planes, the European plane-maker’s top executive said on Monday at the Dubai Airshow.

“We consider it a remarkable thing to match the record delivery performance of 2008 despite the current depressed economic conditions,” Airbus President and Chief Executive
 Tom Enders said.

Airbus is sticking to its initial target of 300 new orders for 2009, he said. “If we end up somewhere between 200-300 orders this year, that is not a catastrophe. We have been concentrating on safeguarding the orders and making sure that production results in deliveries,” Enders said.

“Everyone knows the difficulties that the entire manufacturing industry is facing, particularly in terms of financing of new aircraft. So far we have been able to cope with that, but it’s certainly been a difficult year.

Enders said the Middle East remained an important growth market for the aviation industry in general and for Airbus in particular. “We did not expect to bag as many orders as we did in the previous Dubai Airshow.”

Airbus is among the few manufacturers to have anounced orders at the air show this year. On the opening day of the show, Airbus disclosed a $3 billion order from Ethiopian Airlines and on Monday a $700 million order from Yemenia Airways.

John Leahy, the Airbus chief operating officer for customers, said the Middle East’s airlines would require 1,418 new passenger aircraft valued at $243 billion to satisfy the region’s better than world-average demand. Of this, 60 per cent of the demand will be for wide-body and “very large” aircraft such as its A380, and 40 per cent of demand for single-aisle aircraft, Airbus said. Airbus anticipates that the region will average annual passenger growth rates of 6.4 per cent over the next 10 years and 5.4 per cent from 2019 to 2028.

“By 2028, Dubai will emerge as the fourth-largest hub for wide-bodied aircraft in the world, while the region’s passenger fleet will almost treble to 1,681 from 586 aircraft recorded at the beginning of 2009. Of these 586 aircraft, newer and more eco-efficient models will replace 23 ageing aircraft, 221 will be recycled and 412 will remain in service,” Leahy said.

Emerging economies, evolving airline networks, low-cost-carrier expansion, expanding urbanisation, and more growing mega-cities, as well as ongoing traffic growth and the need to replace older aircraft with eco-efficient airliners are factors driving demand growth, Leahy said, while releasing Airbus Global Market Forecast.

To ease aircraft congestion and to accommodate growth on existing routes, larger aircraft in all size categories will be required, he said.

“The recovery begins here,” Leahy said. The Middle East’s aviation industry has been the one of the few bright spots in the gloomy world picture, witnessing double-digit growth in passenger traffic for much of the year as regional carriers aggressively expand fleets and routes.

“The Middle East market encompasses all aircraft segments and is a barometer for the rest of the world,” Leahy said. “As recovery gain pace, Airbus is ready to meet demand with the world’s most eco-efficient and modern aircraft.”
— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com