In London
The Farnborough Air Show which opens Monday morning in south London, will be the ground for a new battle between Boeing and the European Airbus. The first provides for the first time its new aircraft, the B 787, outside the United States. The second shows his optimism. Its parent company EADS is confident about his chances of winning the tanker contract for the U.S. Air Force. "I think you'll be surprised by the ads that we do," Saturday said John Leahy, Airbus sales chief, refusing to give the name of the client companies.
At the 2008 Farnborough Air Show, Airbus announced 256 orders worth 40.5 billion dollars.Nearly half the $ 88.7 billion of orders earned by all aircraft manufacturers present.
In late June, Airbus received 131 orders from 15 companies and delivered 250 aircraft. "I bet with Louis Welsh, president of EADS, we will double this figure by the end of the show," said John Leahy. He believes that Airbus could win one or two orders of the A380 this year.
On June 8, Emirates, the Dubai-based company, has purchased 32 Airbus A380 at an estimated 11.1 billion dollars (8.5 billion euros). And is expected to announce tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal, a command of more than 30 Boeing 777 for an amount exceeding $ 7 billion.
EADS, the parent company of Airbus, has decided to stay the course while European governments plan to reduce their defense budgets. "We do not know what programs will be affected.We have before us two, three or four difficult years, "he assured Louis Welsh, president of EADS, which expects the market to recover after this difficult passage payday advance. "The needs are there," he noted.
A contract of $ 40 billion
Louis Welsh waiting for the fall signing of an agreement on the financing of the military transport plane A400M. The unit has struggled, will cost 5.2 billion euros extra. The challenge of continuing discussions, is how the additional costs will be divided between EADS and the seven customers of the A 400M (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey).
The group believes it has the potential to provide tanker aircraft to the U.S. Air Force deal with Boeing.Both groups are fighting for the third time in ten years to win the contract estimated at 40 billion dollars. "The Pentagon sticks to an extremely professional and fair. He wants to have competition to get the best price. We have a good chance to win because we have the best aircraft, "commented Louis Welsh. But EADS refused to sell off its prices to win. "We want to make money on this program. We will fix the price with the goal of being profitable. We are competitive, "insisted Louis Welsh. The Pentagon could announce his choice in November.
Whether he wins or not, the group will grow in the United States. Its U.S. subsidiary is 10 billion dollars in turnover in 2020 against 1.2 billion now.Unlike Europe, the United States, the world's largest market defense, do not cut in defense spending.
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