Rain or shine, Airbus makes history

Airbus made history once again during a very rainy Paris Air Show. While it was a great year in terms of aircraft orders and commitments totaling nearly $70 billion, it was the A350 that stole the show when MSN001 flew over Le Bourget just a few days after its maiden first flight.

Sixty-nine orders and commitments worth more than $21 billion poured in for the A350 XWB, with Air France-KLM placing a firm order for 25 A350-900s and Singapore Airlines, already a large A350 customer, ordering 30 more A350-900s. United Airlines also placed an additional A350 order for 10 A350-1000s, not only bringing their total to 35 A350s, but they also upgraded their previous order for 25 A350-900s to the larger A350-1000 meant to replace the airline’s Boeing 777s. Nearly 700 A350 XWB have been ordered since the program was launched.

The A380 was the other big draw thanks to British Airways’ first delivery of the iconic aircraft and an $8 billion commitment for 20 aircraft from Doric Lease Corp. The Doric commitment represents a new opportunity for airlines all over the world to add this flagship aircraft to their fleets under the flexibility of an operating lease agreement. This could be an interesting development for our region. And, it should come as no surprise that the A320 Family, namely the A320neo, led the race with 60 percent of Airbus total orders and commitments during the show.

But for me the highlight of a very exciting show was the 200th A320 delivery to LATAM Airlines Group, the fourth biggest Airbus customer worldwide. The TAM aircraft fitted with Sharklets was the pride and joy of our good friend Roberto Alvo, LATAM’s Chief Corporate Officer, who traveled to Paris to accept the aircraft. I was also very happy to see ILFC announce that they are leasing four A330s to our long-time customer Aerolineas Argentinas.

There is no doubt that this was special show for Airbus and Latin America alike.

With more than 30 years in the aviation industry, Rafael Alonso is the Executive Vice President of Airbus Customer Affairs for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, responsible for all Airbus commercial activities and customer relations in more than 40 countries.