Rains during the biennial Paris Air Show are quite normal, but this time the umbrellas were out too often and rain gear was kind of de rigueur. The tricky weather played truant, affecting hospitality in chalets and movement outside the stalls. However, the quirky weather did not affect business as a determined industry is keen on getting out of rough weather, prevalent for quite some time now, ‘come rain or shine’.Looking at the rains differently was John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, who averred: “The rain brought us some very good luck.”

Did it rain orders for Airbus? No, but on its home turf, Airbus put up a good show, announcing key wins across its entire product line for an impressive 466 new sales and commitments. I recollect how in 2011, Airbus was laughing all the way to the bank, having set a new record for any commercial aircraft manufacturer at any air show ever by winning business to the tune of $72.2 billion ( Rs. 4,33,200 crore) for a total of 730 aircraft.

Golden sheen missing

While Airbus and some other companies may have had it good, the 50th edition of the Paris Air Show held from June 17-23, lacked the golden sheen of a golden jubilee year. Though the number of exhibitors was up marginally by 4.8 per cent (2,215 exhibitors) from 2011, there was decline of eight per cent in trade visitors and 13.5 per cent in general public.

Exhibitor-wise the numbers were encouraging. “This 50th International Paris Air Show was a great success with a record number of exhibitors, confirmed orders for more than $150 billion ( Rs. 9,00,000 crore) and the Airbus A350 XWB fly-past with the President of the French Republic attending, just a few days after its maiden flight,” stated Emeric d’Arcimoles, Chairman of the show.

Military presence toned down

The Paris Air Show, which is known for presenting both military and civilian aircraft, was in a mixed mood, the military segment coming under the weather, so to say. Conspicuous by their absence were military aircraft from the United States, the biggest producer and user of military aircraft. The US Government has put on hold all promotional campaigns at any show, including marquee events such as this one, due to budgetary considerations and it became a talking point how the US presence or absence impacts business.

With the US military aircraft skipping the show, it was for the Russians and French to prop up the event with their latest planes, helicopters and drones. Also this year, the notable themes were electric and hybrid-electric planes, as well as carbon-graphite construction—improvements aimed at creating light, strong, sustainable planes in the face of high fuel prices.

The Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter which took to the French skies for the first time indeed caught everybody’s attention. The fighter aircraft showcased its prowess doing various manoeuvres, including the famous Pugachev Cobra. Irkut Corporation’s Yak 130 military training aircraft was part of the flying display. Also part of the flying display was Dassault Aviation’s Rafale which India is in the process of buying for its requirement of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft. At the show, Dassault and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) reviewed the progress of their ongoing projects, including the Rafale which the latter is expected to build in the coming years.

Russia, like the US and European companies, is keen on wooing the international buyer and not just from the Middle East and Asia (India having been one of its major buyers for long). With several developed nations slashing their defence budget, the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are scouting for new and emerging markets.

Unmanned in the reckoning

Markets aside, on the technology development side, unmanned aircraft are coming under the arc lights. Le Bourget gave a peek into unmanned aircraft development. Foremost was the Piaggio Aero HammerHead which has been transformed from a business jet into a drone, with surveillance equipment and remote flying systems. Piaggio Aero’s Chief Executive Officer Alberto Galassi said the HammerHead is an ‘insight into what an advanced unmanned aerial system of the future will look like”. Piaggio intends to get approvals of the same for use by 2014.

Elsewhere at the venue, Iomax’s ArchAngel, a border patrol aircraft designed to provide ‘airborne surveillance for intelligence and security’, was showcased. The aircraft was originally designed as an agricultural crop-duster, thus reflecting how the industry is reinventing itself due to economic pressures.

Airbus, Boeing rivalry continues

The French and the American companies continued to outdo each other. John Leahy said at the show press conference that over the last five years, the A350 has been selling 2:1 versus the Boeing 787 family and that the A330 was outselling the 787 by 3:1, including the newly launched 787-10 variant. In the narrow-body market, he said, Airbus was holding about 60 per cent of the market versus Boeing 737 Max. Airbus’ newest family member—the A350 XWB which did a fly-past—expanded its already-substantial success with new sales/commitments for 69 aircraft, consisting of 59 A350-900 versions and 10 A350-1000s.

Dreamliner in Air India livery dazzles

Boeing has its way of grabbing attention. While daily, in Air India livery, Boeing 787 Dreamliner flew to dazzle the spectators, Boeing launched the 787-10 Dreamliner, said to be the most efficient jetliner in history. This is the third member of the 787 family and has commitments for 102 airplanes from five customers across Europe, Asia and North America provide a strong foundation to support development and production of the newest Dreamliner.

Customer launch commitments for the 787-10 include Air Lease Corporation with 30 airplanes; GE Capital Aviation Services with 10; International Airlines Group/British Airways with 12, subject to shareholder approval; Singapore Airlines with 30 and United Airlines with 20 airplanes.

Boeings orders for Next Gen 737s, 737 MAXs, 787s, 777s and 747-8s totalled 442 aircraft valued at over $66 billion ( Rs. 3,96,000 crore). Ryanair finalised a firm order for 175 Next Generation 737-800 airplanes valued at $15.6 billion ( Rs. 93,600 crore) at list prices. Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of Ryanair, said: “These 175 new airplanes will enable us to lower costs and airfares even further. They provide Ryanair with the additional capacity to exploit substantial growth opportunities that now exist, as many of Europe’s flag and regional airlines are restructuring and are reducing their short-haul operations.”

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said, “The 787-10 is 25 per cent more efficient than airplanes of its size today and more than 10 per cent better than anything being offered by the competition for the future.”

Duopoly likely to be challenged

The duopoly is going to change in the years to come as we notice the emergence of other players such as China’s Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC), Irkut from Russia, and Canada’s Bombardier, all of whom had substantial presence at Le Bourget. COMAC’s second attendance at the show included models of C919 aircraft and ARJ21 aircraft.

Regional jets soar

In the regional jet market, Embraer had a good outing. The Brazilian airframer launched its second-generation E-Jet, the E2, and secured a firm order from US-based SkyWest Inc. for 100 E-175-E2 aircraft plus 100 purchase rights in a deal valued at $9.4 billion ( Rs. 56,400 crore). In all, Embraer received 212 firm and conditional offers.

Another regional which had it big was ATR. “For ATR, this Le Bourget is a record year. I don’t remember any Le Bourget where in June we’ve been able to announce 173 orders [and options]. It’s an indication that our presence in the market continues to grow,” ATR CEO Filippo Bagnato said. Nordic Aviation Capital orders 36 firm and 55 option ATR turboprops.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 delivery agreement

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company and Ilyushin Finance Co (IFC) signed the Heads of Agreement (HoA) for delivery of 20 Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft. The agreement envisages the financing by IFC of leasing of 15 Sukhoi Superjet 100 in basic modification SSJ100/95B for the South East Asia and the Middle East customers. Also Superjet International announced the delivery of its first Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft to the Mexican airline Interjet. With an order for 20 aircraft plus 10 options, Interjet is the first Western customer to take delivery of the SSJ100. The aircraft was presented for the first time at Le Bourget with its exclusive interior designed by Pininfarina in a 93-seats (34’ pitch) configuration.

Gulfstream returns to Paris

After a hiatus of six years, Gulfstream came back to Paris with two flagship business jets—the G650 and G280. Gulfstream has an order backlog of $15 billion ( Rs. 90,000 crore) and knows how important it is to be present at air shows.

The Gulfstream G650 demonstration aircraft landed at Le Bourget airport in Paris with three new city-pair records: Savannah to Paris; Nice, France to Sao Paulo; and Las Vegas to Madrid, Spain. The most significant record was a 3,899 nautical mile sprint between Savannah and Paris that broke a record held for 25 years by the Gulfstream GIV.

Efficient green technologies

Honeywell and Safran announced that they are extending their collaboration on the development of the new electric green taxiing system (EGTS) to include Air France. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed at the show will enable Air France to analyse the potential technical, operational and financial benefits of the EGTS. In turn, Air France will provide valuable assistance to Safran and Honeywell in refining estimated savings of the system and quantifying other operational benefits. Thanks to these substantial fuel savings, a single aisle aircraft equipped with the EGTS system also reduces NOx emissions by approximately 50 per cent and carbon emissions by approximately 75 per cent during taxiing manoeuvres.

An Airbus airliner flew from southern France to Le Bourget with one fuel tank partially filled with farnesane, a biofuel made from sugarcane, as the industry experiments with green technology. The sugarcane fuel was developed by Amyris, a US company owned by the French oil major Total, and could be in the market starting next year.

TE Connectivity previewed an emerging technology at the show, giving industry professionals a first look at advanced load sensors (still in development) that will serve as part of a proactive warning system for aircraft structure and ancillary systems. Structural health monitoring is an emerging technology for the aerospace industry, driving the need for appropriate sensor systems.

Aero engine manufacturers were also upbeat, booking orders and service contracts worth some $24 billion ( Rs. 1,44,000 crore). GE Aviation said it gained more than $11 billion ( Rs. 66,000 crore) of deals for engines and services while CFM International, a GE/ Safran partnership, won more than $15 billion ( Rs. 90,000 crore) in orders, including an $8.6-billion ( Rs. 51,600 crore) deal with low-cost carrier AirAsia. Pratt & Whitney, meanwhile, bagged orders of over 1,000 engines.

All in all, despite the inclement weather, Paris Air Show continues to be a marquee event not to be missed for technology development, business opportunities and for a true flavour of the aviation industry.