The American company "Boeing" returned to rival "European" Airbus on the third day of the Dubai Air Show, placing several orders on Tuesday, including the sale of 72 "737 Max" aircraft to a newly created Indian company.
And "Boeing" got small orders, compared to its competitor in the first two days of the huge air show, the first of this size since the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, which paralyzed global travel for many months.
Boeing's deal with India's Air Akasa is worth about $9 billion, and according to the US manufacturer, this agreement will allow the newly founded Indian company to "build its fleet" in order to launch its operations quickly.
"We are delighted to be collaborating with Boeing on our first order of the aircraft, and we thank them for their confidence in the business plan" of his company, India's CEO Vinay Dube said in a statement.
"India is one of the fastest growing air transport markets in the world with unparalleled potential. We are already seeing a strong recovery and see decades of growth ahead," he added.
Boeing continued production of the Max planes after the plane was grounded in two fatal accidents, although it canceled more than 600 orders for the plane last year.
The US plane maker had 370 parked planes waiting for customers at the end of October, according to its president, David Calhoun. Therefore, selling aircraft of this type is a good thing, especially since the aircraft will be for a startup company.
According to Dube, Max's planes will help his company "achieve our goal of operating a profitable, reliable and affordable airline, but also an environmentally friendly company with a modern fleet."
Modern models such as the Max or the Airbus A-320neo family can save more than 15 percent of the usual amount of kerosene, thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions by the same amount, which is necessary since air transport is exposed pressured by concerns about climate change.
In addition to the agreement with the Indian company, "Boeing" also signed a contract with Tanzanian Airlines to sell it five long-range aircraft, a "787 Dreamliner", a 767 freighter, and two "737 Max" models, worth about $726 million.
Boeing also announced the sale of the Emirati lessor, Sky One FZE, 3 completed 777 aircraft, and the sale of two 777 freighters to Emirates Airlines, while acknowledging that the latter deal is already registered in its order book.
For its part, "Airbus" continued to harvest contracts after a giant order of 255 "A-321s" for the American "Indigo Partners" group, and a letter of intent signed with "ELC" to sell 111 aircraft of all models.
The European carrier also signed a firm order to sell 10 A220s to Nigeria's state-owned Ibom Air, a deal worth more than $800 million according to the last discontinued price list in 2018.
Airbus also signed a memorandum of understanding for the sale of 20 A320s and eight A321s to the Kuwaiti company, Al Jazeera, in addition to the option to purchase five additional similar planes.
According to Al-Jazeera, "the deal is valued at more than $3.3 billion, according to the list price, while the actual value of the deal will remain confidential."
While airlines have been hit by the collapse in global air traffic, which has returned to half its pre-crisis level, they are beginning to recover and set delivery times for new planes, according to Airbus President Guillaume Faury.
For Emirates President Tim Clark, once back on the recovery path, there will be 18 months "of increased demand, something we haven't seen before".
Clark expects global travel to return to pre-crisis levels by 2023-2024, to grow by about four percent each year thereafter.
But he predicted that "there will be no capacity in the international airline industry to meet this demand." "This is the biggest problem in the future, during the next five to ten years," he said, according to what was reported by "AFP."
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