If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.
Posted on 06/15/2006 11:24:24 AM PDT by Righty_McRight
SINGAPORE (AFP) - US aviation giant Boeing scored a major victory when Singapore Airlines (SIA) ordered 20 of its new mid-size jets while production delays plague its European rival Airbus, analysts said.
SIA on Wednesday announced an order for 20 Boeing 787 aircraft worth 4.5 billion dollars, just hours after publicly expressing displeasure over a fresh postponement in the delivery of the much-vaunted Airbus A380 super jumbo jet.
SIA, Asia's most profitable carrier, was supposed to be the first airline in the world to launch A380 commercial services and has spent a lot of resources to publicise the feat, only to be told this week it will have to wait longer.
SIA insists that the 787 order had no connection with the A380's woes.
The Airbus A380, which can seat 550 to 840 passengers, is supposed to supplant the venerable Boeing 747 as the reigning giant of the skies but production woes have bedevilled Airbus and its parent firm EADS.
In the middle of the market, the 250- to 290-seater Boeing 787 ordered by SIA -- with 20 additional planes on option -- is competing against the Airbus A350, whose development has also been delayed by design changes.
"It is a setback to Airbus as 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners is a big order coming from an airline that Airbus hoped would make a significant order for the Airbus A350," Jason Pereira, an airline analyst with research and advisory firm Globalysis Ltd. in Singapore, told AFP.
The SIA contract, the largest for the 787 since Australia's Qantas ordered up to 115 jets in January, will restore the US plane maker as the number one in the world faster than anticipated, Pereira said.
"Boeing already looked set to regain its place as the largest commercial aircraft producer in the coming years," he said.
"Now with the growing orders for Boeing aircraft -- including the 787 Dreamliners -- it looks like it is going to happen sooner."
Airbus earlier said total orders last year gave it a 52 percent share of the global market. Boeing as a policy declines to state its market share.
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), which owns 80 percent of Airbus, lost about 5.5 billion euros or more than one-quarter of its market value Wednesday after the further A380 delivery delays were announced.
Its share price ended at 18.73 euros, down 26.32 percent from the close on Tuesday. The firm warned that operating profit would be cut by about 500 million euros (625 million dollars) per year from 2007-2010 -- excluding possible contract terminations.
EADS shares staged a modest recovery after trading resumed Thursday.
Scorching economic growth has made the Asia-Pacific region a key battleground for the two aircraft makers, with cash-rich SIA heavily courted by both.
Asia Pacific carriers flew 43.33 million passengers in the January-April period, up 5.2 percent from a year ago, according to latest figures from the Kuala Lumpur-based Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.
"Competition between Boeing and Airbus is fierce in Asia. They are neck and neck so the (A380) delay is very good news for Boeing as it is trying to eat up the market in the Asia-Pacific region," said Choosak Ratanachaichan, an aviation analyst at Kasikorn Research Center in Bangkok.
But all is not lost for Airbus, whose single-aisle A320 is likely to remain the aircraft of choice for short-haul flights in Asia.
"Even if Boeing claims pole position, Airbus will probably be hot on its heels. Airbus has very strong sales of single-aisle aircraft with huge success with the A320 which continues to be popular with low-cost carriers," Pereira said.
Air China announced Thursday it had agreed to buy 24 A320s for 1.74 billion dollars for delivery between 2007 and 2010, boosting Airbus' fortunes in the Boeing-dominated mainland Chinese market.
Despite the delays in the A380's delivery, no Asian carrier has announced any intention to cancel orders for the super jumbo.
Korean Air said it would proceed with a 1.4-billion-dollar contract to buy five A380s despite the latest delay.
"The global status of Airbus will not be swayed much by recent developments unless clients go to (court) for damages," Kyobo Securities analyst Kim Seung-Chul said in Seoul.
I'm no accountant...or CEO...but even *I* know that this isn't good.
Isn't the concept of supply and demand wonderful?
While carriers are saying they won't cancel firm orders, I bet they already have plans to cancel any future option orders they have already announced.
I expect there will be some orders of the new 747-8 announced later this year. Carriers like Quantas, Malaysia, Singapore, etc..... that have ordered the A380 and most likely have options to buy more.
I also believe you'll see orders from Japan. JAL love the 747. Its the pride of their fleet.
If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.
Yep, working on projects now to help Boeing get ready for the launch of that new bird.
Godspeed
On track so far. Thanks!
Damn! The schadenfreude is so thick you could swim in it.
You can predict all you want. I know for a fact they will be just fine.
You signed on today to share that wisdom?
Hello troll.
Probably European.
They can never be what Boeing ever was.
Long live the 747, greatest commercial plane there ever was.
(Know any way to get my parents on 1, guaranteed? Especially without going to Asia? Too bad they can't just fly cross country on a 747, like to see my brother. It's my mom's dream to ride in a 747. :-\ )
I think United flies 747's between LAX-DEN, LAX-ORD, and somtimes SFO-DEN.
The best contract I ever worked was documenting avionics devices for the 777 in the mid-90s.
Then the company sold out, and the new owners literally decimated the work force -- commanded a 10% layoff. My boss had to fire me in order to get my job.
I still have a warm place in my heart for the triple-7, though.
And BA still runs them BOS/LHR. That can be a very cheap flight in the darker seasons.
The daily flight from Phoenix to London Heathrow is always a 747. The lowest fares right now are about $650, but I have seen them on sale for less than $500.
-ccm
Not sensitive at all. In fact hang around long enough, and you'll know that sensitive is about the last thing FR is. But if you have observed or lurked on FR at all, you know we have huge # of lefty trolls that sign on spout nonsense before they are banned.
Not saying that's the case with you, just that there is a reason for being suspicious of newbies.
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