Brexit aftermath pulls down plane orders

LONDON: Aircraft orders plummeted this year at the Farnborough air show, where Brexit clouded the horizon and European giant Airbus slashed output of its A380 superjumbo, figures released Saturday showed.

The show organisers said five days of business had yielded orders and options worth $123.9 billion (€112.3 billion), “defying industry expectations.”

The orders included 856 aircraft worth $93.98 billion and $22.7 billion for 1,407 engines. The intake was, however, sharply down on the last edition of the world’s biggest airshow in 2014, which registered a record-breaking $201 billion in orders.



Airbus clipped Boeing’s wings at the show, with AirAsia signing for 100 single-aisle fuel-efficient A380neo jets, worth some 11.3 billion euros at list prices.

Airbus’ commercial director John Leahy on Thursday unveiled $35 billion of sales in all-$25.3 in firm orders-for 279 planes. Boeing notched up 182 sales worth a total of $26.8 billion.

Airbus’ announcement late Tuesday that the Franco-German planemaker would halve A380 production to one a month from 2018 caused some turbulence at the show, but chief executive Tom Enders said he hoped the cutbacks would last “just a year or two”.

British engine maker Rolls-Royce, a supplier of France-based Airbus, said it was worried about the commercial impact of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Boeing and Airbus were however bullish about their long-term prospects, with Asia and low-cost carriers keeping demand buoyant.



The show attracted on average 20,000 visitors a day before opening to the public for the weekend.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2016.

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