Oasis in the Desert: Airbus Lands a Jumbo Emirates Order

Battered by cost overruns, production delays, and a festering insider-trading scandal at its corporate parent, EADS, Airbus came to the 2007 Dubai Air Show in need of some good news. It found some.

On the opening day of the show, the world's third largest aerospace industry event, Airbus today landed a stinging blow to archrival Boeing: Emirates Airline ordered 70 A350XWB aircraft, giving the Airbus plane a big victory over Boeing's popular 787 Dreamliner.

At the same time, Emirates ordered another three A380 superjumbos from Airbus and 12 Boeing 777 jets, bringing its total new aircraft investment to $35 billion.

Later, showing the continued strength of rapidly growing airlines in the Gulf region, Qatar Airways said it had ordered 27 Boeing 777s worth an estimated $13.5 billion. Qatar had ordered 80 of Airbus' A350s earlier in the year.

Over all, though, the opening day of the show belonged to Airbus, which announced more than 90 firm orders. It was a welcome respite of success for the European aerospace giant—and particularly for the A350, which debuted in 2006 but was scrapped for a new design when airlines demanded more advanced technology.

"Yes, this is vindication," Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy said after the Emirates announcement. "The A350 is an airplane worth waiting for. We're ramping up a lot faster now. When Boeing launched the 787, our friends in Seattle only had 66 orders in the first year. We'll have more than 300 for the A350."

Until recently, Boeing had been riding high and relishing Airbus' woes. The 787 Dreamliner won rave reviews from airlines and the press, becoming the most successful airplane launch in history.

But after the 787's rollout ceremony in September, Boeing said it too was suffering production delays, and they would push back delivery of the first Dreamliner by six months.

Scott Carson, Boeing's commercial aircraft president, played down the significance of Airbus' victory over the Emirates order in Dubai. "It's a disappointment not to win every competition we enter," he said. "But that's realistic."

Industry observers however acknowledged Airbus' renewed strength. "The Emirates order is a strong endorsement of the A350XWB," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group, an aerospace and defense consulting firm in Fairfax, Virginia.

"Emirates wants a new generation 300-seat aircraft," Aboulafia added, "and given the uncertainties of the 787 program and the 787-10 in particular, they probably decided the A350 was a safe bet at a good price."

by Gabriel Sherman