Farnborough matches expectations, welcomes 787

The B787 predictably captured the spotlight at this week’s Farnborough Airshow, putting the A380 a little in the shade – except during the flying display, in which the Boeing star did not participate. While the Dreamliner was only at the Show for a couple of days it pretty much dominated the flight line while it was there. It was a demonstration of confidence in the new generation airliner, by all concerned, after a long series of delays. Boeing is still saying it will deliver the first B787 into commercial service before the end of this year, despite the fact that it has the certification process to get through. Boeing says that process is 90 per cent complete and the end of the year remains feasible. Some observers believe there is a good chance the first delivery will slip into early 2011, but maybe Boeing is due for good roll of the dice on this one. Anyway, the 787 captured the attention of the whole field when it made a flypast in the company of two Spitfires on departure late on the Tuesday.

The Airbus product that did attract major attention was the new military airlifter, the A400M, which performed impressively at its airshow debut, despite the doubts about its future. The first cleansheet Airbus military aircraft (somewhat bizarrely tagged the Grizzly during the Show) is late, overbudget and under threat of order cancellations by some of its European partners because of government budget cuts. That would be tragic, because the aircraft looks good, performs brilliantly and should deliver as advertised. There’s every chance that, if it survives, the A400M could turn up wearing RAAF livery at some stage in the not too distant future.

Airbus announced that it has already delivered 10 A380s so far this year and hopes to double that by year end. Sounds like production of the big airliner has settled into a rhythym. That means there are now 33 A380s in commercial service, including 11 with SIA. Airbus said proudly that the A380 has now transported more than six million pax on more than 155,000 revenue flights. But its still waiting for that second tranche of sales to break through. The A380 order book is distorted by perplexing Emirates numbers and needs an injection of commitment from some new major players.

Airbus also updated attending media on the A350XWB program, which it seems is on track for a 2013 entry into service. Airbus says it holds orders for close to 550 aircraft from more than 30 customers. The first of three variants of the A350XWB, the -900, will carry 314 pax in a three-class configuration. Design work for that aircraft is “well advanced” , first parts have been manufactured and final assembly plant is under construction in Toulouse.

The Sukhoi Superjet also put in a debut performance, both on the flightline and in the aerial display. And it attracted an order for 30 aircraft from Indonesian regional carrier Kartika.

ATR had a 72-600 series aircraft on the line, while announcing that it had taken orders for 30+30 of the 72-600 so far this year. It has also delivered 26 new turboprops from the -500 range in the first six months. The total order backlog at Farnborough was 152. CEO Filippo Bagnato pointed out that turboprops were more than holding their own in the regional markets: “Ten years ago, turboprop represented only 1% of the deliveries in the 20-year forecasts for regional aircraft. Today, turboprops represent 40%.” The eagerly awaited -600 series is in the middle of flight trailing, with the first aircraft to be delivered next year.

It was a relatively quiet airshow in terms of real news, though the orders were certainly there. Emirates booked 30 B777-300ERs, while GECAS ordered 60 A320s and 40 B737-800s and ALC signed for 51 A320-family aircraft. Also, Aeroflot purchased 11 A330-300s and a Norwegian airline ordered 15 B737-800s. Embraer sold two ERJ190s and five ERJ195s.

Boeing confirmed the configuration for the B787-9, the stretched derivative of the current -8. It will be 20 feet longer, carry 16 per cent more pax and fly up to 300 nm further. Air New Zealand is scheduled to get the first -9 towards the end of 2013.

Boeing has China targeted as the next significant competitor on the horizon, with VP Marketing Randy Tinseth saying at the Show that “…since Long Beach (McDonnell Douglas) went away, the C919 is the most direct competitor we’ve seen”; referring to China’s 160-seat twin-jet project, which has a planned EIS date of 2016. The C919 will tackle the single-aisle market that Boeing Airbus have had to themselves for so long – and it will do it in the biggest market on the globe, China. Tinseth said that Boeing will counter the threat by “continuing to innovate, providing customers with the best possible value, and continuing to improve the build process and bring costs down”. But Boeing is well advised to be wary. As Napoleon said, “Let China sleep for when she wakes the world will tremble”. Well, China is well and truly awake, not least in the aerospace arena.

Some expected an announcement from Qatar Airways colourful CEO Akbar Al Baker with respect to Bombardier’s nascent CSeries 100-seater regional aircraft, but that’s apparently delayed by what Al Baker referred to as “commercial issues”, not with the aircraft manufacturer but with engine supplier Pratt & Whitney. The word at the Show was that the dispute is over maintenance cost guarantees. Instead, Qatar has ordered two of Bombardier’s larger corporate jets, the Global 500, for private charter operations within its Executive division.

Qatar also had one of its B777s on the flightline and open for escorted visits. The business class product therein is better than that offered by some A380 operators in the same category. The product is only two years old, but nonetheless the airline is talking of a new business class cabin next year.

Meanwhile Bombardier was defensive at Farnborough about the market status of the CSeries, with not a single new order available for announcement at the Show. Bombardier says it is in discussions with some potential customers and hopes to announce more orders ( beyond the 90 or so it holds) soon. Given the market pressure it will feel (if it’s not already feeling it) from the established majors, who will obviously defend their markets – and the momentum of the Chinese C919 (see above) – Bombardier has a lot of work to do on this one.

It was a better show for Embraer, who announced a single order from Europe's Flybe with a potential value of US$5 billion. The regional carrier placed an order for up to 140 Embraer 175s, comprising 35 firm, 65 options and 40 purchase options; with the right to select other than the -175 with the options, should the business plan head that way.

Finally, the Show itself. How did this Farnborough stack up against previous events?

Well, it was a warm one for the first couple of days – though not as challenging as 2006 when the temperature reached 40 degrees most days. It was an impressive flightline and a particularly impressive aerial display (or was it just that we rarely get to see the aerial display at airshows, because of the. press conference/interview schedule?). The only negative – but it was a big one – was that two-hour queque to pick up an already approved media pass. We suggest that Farnborough organizers sub-contract the whole entry pass process to a specialist like Sagem. It’s unforgivable that the world’s biggest and best-attended airshow can mishandle such a process after so many decades of experience. And it certainly doesn’t encourage a synergistic relationship with the world’s specialist media.