Farnborough Air Show

Etihad Airways placed one of the largest orders for commercial aviation aircraft in history at this week's Farnborough Air Show. EY placed an order for 45 Boeing wide bodied aircraft plus 55 Airbus aircraft. The break up of EY's order is as follows:

a) 35 Boeing 787-900s + 10 Boeing 777-300ERs. Options are for 25 Boeing 787s + 10 more B 777-300ERs. Purchase rights were taken for additional 5 B 773ERs + 10 B 787s.

b) 20 Airbus A 320s + 25 Airbus A 350s + 10 Airbus A 380s plus options for five more A 320s + 10 A 350s + 5 A 380s. Purchase rights were taken for additional 15 A 320s, 15 A 350s and five A 380s.

Fly Dubai, the new low cost airline of Dubai placed a multi billion order at the Farnborough Air Show for 54 Boeing 737-800s surprising the entire industry who expected the A 320 family of aircraft to win this order. Fly Dubai also has the option to convert some B 738s to the larger -900 version. The airline will be targeting cities within a 5 hour flying radius from DXB's new Jebel Ali Airport (which will be its hub). The carrier will be launched by the end of the year with a batch of 4 leased B 738s.

Saudia Airlines officially confirmed at the Farnborough Air Show signing an order with Airbus for 8 brand new Airbus A 330-300s which will be used on high density regional flights. It is expected that SV will use these planes to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 747-100s initially on flights to DAC, Northern Pakistan and India.

Asiana Airlines of South Korea has officially confirmed placing a multi billion order with Airbus at the recent Farnborough Air Show for 30 new Airbus A 350s which are most likely to be the -900 version. This aircraft is likely to be the long term replacement for OZ's entire fleet of A 333s and B 772ERs as the A 359 can fly long haul nonstop flights with approximately 300 plus passengers to Europe and North America thus proving to be a perfect replacement aircraft for its fleet of A 333s and B 772ERs.

Air China has officially confirmed placing a multi billion order with Boeing earlier on this week at the Farnborough Air Show for 15 new Boeing 777-300ERs and 30 new Boeing 737-800s. It is not yet known if the B 773ERs will be a direct replacement for CA's fleet of 4 B 744s and 8 B 744 Combis but one should not be surprised if this is the case as CA prepares to change its business model from an O&D carrier to a "hub & spoke carrier" by strengthening its PEK-Beijing hub by offering connections across its network from a variety of key short haul and long haul destinations.