Making History at the Paris Air Show

New order record of 730 aircraft worth US$72 billion

“What an incredible air show.” That’s what people will undoubtedly remember about this year’s Paris Air Show. The numbers speak for themselves:
- Orders and commitments for 730 aircraft from 16 customers
- 667 commitments for the A320neo Family
- 34 A320 Family aircraft, 11 A330s, six A350s and 12 additional A380s
- A total worth over US$72 billion

These results directly reflect today’s market trends.

First, they prove that the crisis airlines went through in 2008-2009 is over. There is an urgent need for capacity. Global statistics, and in particular in Latin America, demonstrate increasing load factors and higher traffic growth rates month after month.

Second, the outstanding success of the A320neo Family clearly validates Airbus decision to launch its cost-effective technology as quickly as possible. Since its introduction six months ago, the A320neo Family has now reached over 1000 orders and commitments worldwide, including 75 aircraft in Latin America from AviancaTaca, LAN and TAM.

Finally, it also reflects the current trend of airlines requiring larger planes - - more demand for larger aircraft like the A320 and A321 of the A320 Family, the A330-300 of the A330 Family, the A350-900 of the A350 Family, and even the A380.

For the region, the highlights were clearly the signature of the order from LAN for 20 A320neo and the commitment from AviancaTaca for 51 A320 Family aircraft, including 33 A320neo.

LAN’s firm order is the first in Latin America for the A320neo and demonstrates LAN’s confidence in the A320 Family. In this very smart move, LAN was quick to take advantage of the availability for this new fuel-efficient aircraft, which will give them additional competitiveness by reducing their fuel expenses at least 15%.

AviancaTaca’s commitment is the biggest ever from a single Airbus customer in Latin America. It shows how fast AviancaTaca is expanding, how beneficial the merger was between the two airlines and how difficult it will be for its competitors to match the superior economics of the A320neo.

So far in 2011, if we consider the orders from AviancaTaca, LAN and TAM, the number of aircraft sold for Airbus in Latin America could reach more than 100. This is well over the 75 aircraft sold by Airbus in the region throughout all of 2010. And we are only in the middle of the year.

For more information contact:
Patrick Baudis
Vice President Marketing, Latin America & Caribbean
patrick.baudis@airbus.com