Parisian Flights of Fancy

Both Boeing and Airbus had reason to be happy at the outcome of the Paris Air Show.

Airbus can claim bragging rights of racking up the biggest number of sales for the year. The European manufacturer announced 425 new jet orders at the show, bringing their take for the year to 626 planes.

In contrast, Boeing reported 66 new orders in Paris, which brought its year-to-date total to at least 510. Boeing officials downplayed the differences in tallies from the show, arguing that its 66 planes were actually ordered at Le Bourget this week while Airbus simply confirmed the orders it already had.

Boeing continued getting high marks for its 787 Dreamliner, its next-generation widebody that the company says will be far more fuel efficient and kinder to the environment. The International Lease Finance Corporation signed a deal to buy 50 more of the planes, bringing its total orders to 72.

But Boeing also trumpeted its upcoming 747-8 intercontinental passenger and freight planes as well as a new first class interior designed for the 777s operated by India's Jet Airways. The front cabin will have eight seats, each with doors to slide closed to give a passenger the utmost in privacy.

Not to be outdone, Airbus pulled out a couple of P.R. tricks.

Actor and pilot John Travolta showed up at the show and told reporters he'd been allowed to fly the A380. "I did fly that A380 you know," he told Reuters on Thursday. "I was the first non-test pilot to fly that and I'm telling you it's a very easy plane to fly but technically complicated."

But the real star of the show never showed his face. On Tuesday, Airbus announced that someone placed an order for the $300 million Airbus 300 for private use. "It will be for personal use for him and his entourage," Airbus sales director John Leahy told reporters.

"I can't tell you who it is but he's not from Europe or the United States," Leahy said.

Speculation swirled around who the buyer was and by Friday, one media outlook said the proud new owner was Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

ArabianBusiness.com quoted sources at the air show as saying that Abramovich, owner of Chelsea football club, had been in talks with Airbus executives for several weeks.

But the website didn't point out that if Abramovich--a Russian who lives in London--is the buyer, then Airbus was wrong in saying it wasn't a European.

After the plane is built, it will have to be customized--a process that will add between $50 million and $150 million onto the price tag.

One company that's an expert in outfitting such planes is Lufthansa Technik, which commissioned a computer model of what a custom A380 would look like. (Click here for a slideshow.)

Lufthansa Technik communications director Aage Duenhaupt would not say if the private A380 buyer had contracted with his company. But he did say the market for private jumbo jets is growing: Lufthansa Technik is currently designing its 13th 747 for a private customer.

"We are getting a solid and increasing interest of various people in the A380," he said.

by J. Jennings Moss