Graphic fact file on this weekend's Paris air show at Le Bourget.
Posted on 06/15/2003 7:52:34 AM PDT by Enemy Of The State
| Paris Air Show opens in crisis mode |
| LE BOURGET, France (AFP) |
| ?2003 AFP |
Graphic fact file on this weekend's Paris air show at Le Bourget. |
The Paris Air Show, the world's premiere aviation showcase, opens to the public, flying buffs and professionals here in the grip of the worst crisis in aviation history.
At a media preview Saturday of the biennial show at Le Bourget airport, near Paris, the gloom was palpable despite a three-ring circus atmosphere of roaring aerobatics overhead as hulking planes were towed around the fairgrounds.
Dassault Aviation chief executive Charles Edelstenne sounded the alarm in giving the first of many scheduled news conferences at what is known as the Salon du Bourget.
"This 45th Salon du Bourget opens its doors in an atmosphere full of uncertainties and questions," Edelstenne said, contrasting the euphoria of previous years with today's unfavorable conditions.
On the first day of the 2001 show, Dassault announced a huge order of 100 Falcon planes from the US airline United Airlines. Three months later came the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, and United Airlines cancelled the order.
The 9/11 attacks were the first major blow to the airlines, already suffering from an economic slowdown. Rising terrorism, anthrax attacks and the mysterious SARS virus epidemic piled up the anxiety.
The bitter traces of the US-led war in Iraq and its vigorous French-led opposition can be seen in the sharply reduced US participation at the air show this year. For the first time, no US military plane will perform in the sky.
In a fresh sign of persisting European-US tensions, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie announced Saturday in the French newspaper Le Monde that she had asked for "a study" of "the risks" that US investments could represent in companies linked to European defense.
Show organizers have acknowledged that the scope of this year's show pales in comparison with the record-setting 2001 event.
Not a single order was announced at the media preview. Boeing said it was happy to say it saw a pick-up in deliveries of new planes in 2005.
All eyes were focused on Sunday's opening, when the show's premise meets the reality of industry insiders and potential clients.
The traditional European-US rivalry between Airbus and Boeing was expected take center ring.
Both companies were to hold news conferences Sunday, and are expected to announce orders at some point during the weeklong show.
According to the magazine Flight International, Emirates Airlines of the United Arab Emirates will announce a blockbuster order split between the rivals.
The company will order 26 Boeing and 33 Airbus, plus a number of options, at a catalogue price of about five billion dollars (4.2 billion euros) for Boeing and three billion dollars for Airbus, it said.
Another Gulf region airline, Qatar Airways, is expected to transform into a firm order negotiations for the purchase of two future superjumbo A380s from Airbus.
BAE Systems, Europe's biggest defense company, will also be addressing the media Sunday, a day after saying it expects a decision from the British defense ministry on its bid for a Hawk training jet order at month's end.
"We turned in a value-for-money proposal that met all the requirements," a spokesman for the British giant told AFX, AFP's financial news subsidiary.
He declined to say if or how the government had reacted to his company's proposal for the contract, estimated to be worth one billion pounds (1.4 billion euros, 1.7 billion dollars).
The show closes June 22.
 French Air France supersonic Concorde makes its last landing at Le Bourget airport on the first day of the Paris Air Show north of French capital. |
 Air France's oldest Concorde, the F-BVFA, in Chantilly, Virginia, after making it's final flight. The Paris Air Show in Le Bourget opened with a tribute to the aircraft. |
Don't you just hate it when gloom is palpable at Le Bidet?
The airshow's a bust in part because of the American no-show. That was one nice slap in the face to Chirac and his government, because everyone knows - from experience - that the world's finest warplanes and commercial planes are made in the USA. What a boring airshow....
Is she saying that Americans might not be allowed to invest in companies linked to European defense?
Of course if we reciprocated.....
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