Airbus and Boeing Face Off at Paris Air Show
United State’s largest aircraft manufacturer, Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) is set to be present at the upcoming Paris Air Show which is the home turf of European market leader Airbus SAS.
Boeing announced its participation for the Paris Air Show, however did not mention what new announcement or unveiling it will make at the event. The Unites States based manufacturer is still uncertain over the choice to either upgrade the widely flown 737 or begin offering the single aisle place for the civil jet industry.
Boeing’s competitor Airbus however is certain over its choice of plane that it will be pitching to investors. It is set to announce the successful trials of the A320neo. More than 434 orders of the A320neo have already been booked and will begin delivery by 2015.
Boeings rivals in Russia, China, Brazil and Canada are closely watching the next move of Boeing, which could shape up the narrow body market and break the duopoly with Airbus. Boeing will have to consider its next moves very carefully since moving resources from one program to the other will reduce the resources available for the other aircrafts. An increased focus on narrow body market will give Airbus a chance to dominate in the wide body plane with its A350.
Boeing is under no rush to make a decision and will wait it out for a while to see what the industry needs. The plane Boeing chooses to develop will be continued for 20 to 30 years.
The A320neo is the newest narrow body planes from Airbus for the fast growing domestic market. The plane cost around $6 million and will come with the choices of two engines. The plane is said to be 15 percent more efficient that the previous versions of the plane. At the upcoming Paris Air Show, Air France SA, AirAsia Bhd and lan of Chile are set to announce their orders of the A320neo. It has already won orders of 102 of the same from Cebu Pacific of Philippine and Go Airlines of India. Airbus has already 10 firm orders from the last year’s Farmborough Air Show worth $1 billion.
The success of the A320neo in bagging orders before it even begins its final tests has helped raise the stocks of Airbus’s parent company European Aeronautic, defense & Space Co. The stocks have gained more than 24 percent in the past twelve months in comparison to just 14 percent for Boeing.
