Qatar Airways announced an order for three Airbus A380 superjumbo airliners and confirmed an order for 80 mid-sized A350 aircraft on the first day of the Paris Air Show on Monday. The planes would be worth slightly more than 18 billion dollars (13.4 billion euros) at catalogue prices.
The order for 80 A350s, first announced in March this year, is worth 17.2 billion dollars at catalogue prices while three A380s would be priced at 957 million dollars, according to Airbus sales figures. The new order for the A380 is a vote of confidence in the troubled airliner, which has been hit by production problems meaning deliveries are about two years behind schedule.
Qatar Airways, a fast-growing airline founded in 1994, has already ordered two A380s. Also on Monday, a source told AFP that Dubai-based airline Emirates, the biggest single client for the superjumbo, would announce an order for up to 10 additional A380s.
Launch of the Airbus A350 plane has also been delayed, mainly because of design difficulties. The mid-sized jet is a competitor for Boeing's future 787 model, but will enter service five years later than its rival.
Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois said that deliveries of the A350 to Qatar Airways would begin in 2013, the same year the plane is set to enter service.
The Paris Air Show, one of the biggest aerospace events in the world, is an important battlefield for Airbus and Boeing, the two biggest makers of commercial planes.
The companies use the event to clinch new business and compete in announcing new orders for their latest aircraft. Airbus has fallen far behind Boeing for new orders in 2007 after being overtaken by the US manufacturer in 2006. At the end of May, Airbus had reported 201 new orders for planes this year, while its US rival had 429 at the beginning of June.
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