Jetrader - Autumn 2015 - 17

2

1
3

5

4
1. Show debut on Monday for the CSeries.
2. Patrouille de France; Private show for President Hollande.

I

If there was one color dominating the 2015
Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, it was the grey
livery of Qatar Airways. No less than five
aircraft featured this Middle East carrier's
grey (and burgundy) livery. Has any carrier
ever dominated a major air show like this
before? Unlikely. Apart from two singleaisle planes, an all-business-class A319
and a sharklet-equipped A320ceo, three of
the more spectacular twin-aisle aircraft on
the static display also came from the same
airline: a Boeing 787-8, an A350-900 and
the massive A380-800. As if this was not
enough, the Qatar logo was prominently
displayed on a triumphal arch about the size
of the "Petit Arc de Triomphe" in downtown
Paris, featuring a huge television screen
showing some of the demo flights for the
many visitors who had no direct view of the
runway. I guess we owe Qatar Airways a big
"thank you" for adding some excitement
to the otherwise somewhat quiet air show.

3. A350 returning from its "Presidential" demo flight.
4. Rocket launch: The 787-9's impressive climb angle.
5. Arce de Triomphe Qatari style.

Business Volume: No Surprises
For the commercial aviation business,
the 2015 Paris Air Show did not bring
much spectacular or unexpected news.
Apart from a renewed attempt by Airbus
to launch an A320/A321 passenger-to
freighter-conversion program and ATR
a high-density, 78-seat version of its
ATR72-600, on the "metal" side, there was
speculation about a potential stretched
and re-engined version of the A380, but
no official announcements. With, according to Flightglobal, a total of 376 firm jet
orders plus 52 turboprop orders, volume
actually wasn't too bad. Add to this the
571 order LoIs, 94 options and 130 option
LoIs, and the total equals 1,223 "love
letters" between the OEMs and their clients. Despite this, total 2015 order volume
remains well behind that booked during
the first months of 2014. After the 2014
Farnborough Airshow (on 18 July) the

industry had clocked up a total of 1,861
new orders for commercial jets (plus 34
type swaps). After Le Bourget 2015 (on
22 June) the industry total stood at "only"
866 orders (plus 49 type swaps), less than
half of the 2014 volume. OK, there is about
a month difference between the two dates,
but that isn't enough to fill the gap. Of
course, this is not surprising in a year
with very few new program launches and a
total jet backlog equal to almost 10 years
of production at 2014 production volume.
No reason to be too worried, it seems.
A few announcements that were made
in Paris have not been translated into firm
orders, including the 110 plus 90 A321neos
(with high-density Cabin Flex interior) for
WIZZ and the in total 90-strong orders
for 737 MAX 8s, 787-9s and A350 supposedly coming soon from Garuda Indonesia.
The biggest firm order was the longawaited commitment from lessor AerCap
Jetrader  *  Autumn 2015 17
Jetrader - Autumn 2015

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