Paris Gives True Flavours of Aviation Industry

This 50th International Paris Air Show was a great success with a record number of exhibitors and confirmed orders for more than $150 billion

Established in 1909, the biennial marquee aviation event—Paris Air Show—celebrated its golden jubilee edition from June 17 to 23, 2013, amidst high expectations. Though the iconic air show did not have any recordbreaking announcements, it however continued to reflect the true flavours of the aviation industry—technology and business wise. And mind you, the persisting rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the industry which is rallying optimistically.

“This 50th International Paris Air Show was a great success with a record number of exhibitors, confirmed orders for more than $150 billion ( Rs. 9,00,000 crore) and the Airbus A350 XWB fly-past with the President of the French Republic attending, just a few days after its maiden flight” stated Emeric d’Arcimoles, Chairman of the Show, who pointed out that “the Careers Plane exhibition, together with the GIFAS Air & Space Forum, enabled 70,000 mainly young visitors to meet the industry’s employees—engineers, technicians and operators—who presented 50 aerospace trades practised in France. This recruitment and employment initiative showcases the sector’s occupations in the best possible light.”

The 51st International Paris Air Show—the world’s biggest—will be back at Le Bourget from June 15 to 21, 2015.

The number of exhibitors was up marginally by 4.8 per cent (2,215 exhibitors) from 2011, but there was decline of eight per cent in trade visitors and 13.5 per cent in general public.

Airbus on its home turf

The Paris Air Show is always known for battle of words and heated competition between two major aerospace companies—Europe’s Airbus and America’s Boeing, but the former always dominates, enjoying the advantage of home turf. Airbus announced key wins across its entire product line for an impressive 466 new sales and commitments, while its competitor showcased the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner which has been touted as the most efficient jetliner in history.

John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, said at the show press conference ‘The rains brought us some very good luck’. He announced that over the last five years, the A350 has been selling 2:1 versus the Boeing 787 family and that the A330 was outselling the 787 by 3:1, including the newly launched 787-10 variant. In the narrow-body market, he said, Airbus was holding about 60 per cent of the market versus Boeing 737 Max. Airbus’ newest family member—the A350 XWB which did a flypast—expanded its already-substantial success with new sales/commitments for 69 aircraft, consisting of 59 A350-900 versions and 10 A350-1000s.

Boeing 787-10 commitments

The 787-10 which is the third member of the 787 family has commitments for 102 airplanes from five customers across Europe, Asia and North America. And on daily flying display was the Dreamliner in Air India livery.

Customer launch commitments for the 787-10 include Air Lease Corporation with 30 airplanes; GE Capital Aviation Services with 10; International Airlines Group/British Airways with 12 subject to shareholder approval; Singapore Airlines with 30 and United Airlines with 20 airplanes.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said, “The 787-10 is 25 per cent more efficient than airplanes of its size today and more than 10 per cent better than anything being offered by the competition for the future.”

While these two battle it out in the large planes segment, players who are coming into reckoning include Brazil’s Embraer; Canada’s Bombardier; Irkut from Russia; Mitsubishi from Japan; and, China’s Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC).

Regional Jets have a good run

Both Embraer and ATR had successful outings at the show with the latter announcing that it was a ‘record year’ business-wise. “I don’t remember any Le Bourget where in June we’ve been able to announce 173 orders [and options]. It’s an indication that our presence in the market continues to grow,” ATR CEO Filippo Bagnato said. Nordic Aviation Capital ordered at the show 36 firm and 55 option ATR turboprops.

At the show the Brazilian airframer launched its second-generation E-Jet, the E2, and secured a firm order from US-based Sky-West Inc. for 100 E-175-E2 aircraft plus 100 purchase rights in a deal valued at $9.4 billion ( Rs. 38,400 crore). In all Embraer received 212 firm and conditional offers.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Aircraft is also eyeing the regional jet market pie (70/90-seater) and its President and Chief Operating Officer, Teruaki Kawai hopes to put the plane up in the skies by the end of 2013. The Japanese company has secured 165 firm MRJ orders till date with options for 160 jets.

Also making a strong pitch is the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company with its Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft. At the show it signed an agreement with Ilyushin Finance Co (IFC) for delivery of 20 Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft. The agreement envisages the financing by IFC of leasing of 15 Sukhoi Superjet 100 in basic modification SSJ100/95B for the South East Asia and the Middle East customers.

Also Superjet International announced the delivery of its first Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft to the Mexican airline Interjet. With an order for 20 aircraft plus 10 options, Interjet is the first western customer to take delivery of the SSJ100. The aircraft was presented for the first time at Le Bourget with its exclusive interior designed by Pininfarina in a 93-seat (34’ pitch) configuration.

Business Jets not behind

Coming soon after EBACE in Switzerland, the Paris Air Show is another window of opportunity for business jets. Bombardier announced orders worth nearly $2 billion ( Rs. 12,000 crore), while Gulfstream returned to the show after a gap of six years. VistaJet placed orders for up to 40 new Challenger 350 jets that would be worth over $1 billion ( Rs. 6,000 crore) at current list prices. The Challenger 350 has a range of 5,926 kilometres, giving it the ability to make non-stop connections between all major cities within mainland China or international flights between places such as Moscow and Dubai. Deliveries of the aircraft are to commence in mid-2014.

Gulfstream returned to Paris with two flagship business jets—the G650 and G280. Gulfstream has an order backlog of $15 billion ( Rs. 90,000 crore) and knows how important it is to be present at air shows.

The Gulfstream G650 demonstration aircraft landed at Paris-Le Bourget airport with three new city-pair records: Savannah to Paris; Nice, France to Sao Paulo; and Las Vegas to Madrid, Spain. The most significant record was a 3,899 nautical mile sprint between Savannah and Paris that broke a record held for 25 years by the Gulfstream GIV.

Biofuel and other green technologies

Paris happens to be the place where path-breaking technologies grab eyeballs. This year too there were quite a few. Airbus flew a plane from southern France to the show with one fuel tank partially filled with famesane, a biofuel made from sugarcane, demonstrating that the aviation sector is keen on clean fuels. The sugar fuel was developed by Amyris, a U.S. company owned by the French oil major Total, and could be on the market starting next year.

Meanwhile, Honeywell and Safran talked about their collaboration on the new electric green taxiing system (EGTS) to include Air France. Air France will provide valuable assistance to Safran and Honeywell in refining estimated savings of the system and quantifying other operational benefits. Thanks to these substantial fuel savings, a single aisle aircraft equipped with the EGTS system also reduces NOx emissions by approximately 50 per cent and carbon emissions by approximately 75 per cent during taxiing manoeuvres.

Innovation rules

Some of the innovations which stole the limelight included the E-Fan, a two-seater training plane that is fully electric. Designed by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and Aero Composites Saintonge, the plane runs on Lithium-polymer batteries which are common in cellphones, but here, two much larger ones provide the power for the plane, giving it a maximum flight time of an hour. Similar to E-Fan is Sky Prius. The Diamond Aircraft DA36 E-Star 2 is basically a flying Prius. It debuted at the Paris Air Show in 2011 and was back this year.

Unmanned development

Le Bourget also became a venue for demonstrating unmanned aircraft development. Piaggio Aero unveiled the HammerHead which has been transformed from a business jet into a drone, with surveillance equipment and remote flying systems. Piaggio Aero’s Chief Executive Officer Alberto Galassi said the HammerHead is an ‘insight into what an advanced unmanned aerial system of the future will look like.” Piaggio intends to get approvals of the same for use by 2014.

And Iomax put up ArchAngel, a border patrol aircraft designed to provide airborne surveillance for intelligence and security. The aircraft was originally designed as an agricultural crop-duster, thus reflecting how the industry is reinventing itself due to economic pressures. Paris Air Show remains the quintessential event highlighting innovation, market trends and the runway ahead.