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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0112.PDF
HEADLINES The boom returns for airliner orders KEVIN O'TOOLE/LONDON AIRBUS, BOEING and Mc Donnell Douglas (MDC) saw jet-airliner orders climb comfort ably above the 1,000 mark in 1996, giving the big three aircraft builders their best year since the bonanza of the late 1980s. Pro duction rates arc also on the rise and due to hit record levels within the next two to diree years. Over the year, 1,089 new aircraft were ordered, although that came down a little to a net figure of just under 900 after removing order cancellations and swaps. The fig ure is still below the peak of 1989, when order intake reached an unprecedented high of around 1,500, but represents a dramatic turnaround from the miserable performances of the past five years. The 1996 order announcements have provoked the usual spat over market share claims between Air bus and Boeing. Excluding the small regional-jet manufacturers, the raw figures give Boeing 62% of net orders for the year with Airbus taking one-third, which is close to die average for the past few years. MDC continued to lag, with only 4% of orders, aldiough it still holds an order backlog of nearly 200 aircraft. Boeing Commercial Airplane Group president Ron Woodard admits that his com pany's pending acquisition of rival MDC is not expected to have a major impact on market share. He adds that Boeing's goal is to achieve a steady two-diirds share. In termsofordervalue, Boeingis already close to its target, netting orders worth close to S43 billion out of an estimated total of just under S66 billion, giving it around 65% of the market against just under 32% for Airbus. The Boeing figures were boost ed by a flurry of activity' in De cember, which added 87 orders, including confirmation of Asiana's 15 777s, some 20 narrowbody orders from leasing companies and a 747-400 sale to Virgin Atlantic Airways. Over the year, Boeing's tally of new business was also swelled by massive long-term orders from American Airlines and GE Capital, both of which topped the 100-aircraftmark. The big numbers came from the new-generation Boeing 737 pro gramme, which netted nearly 300 orders. Even with more than 100 cancellations on the existing 737, led by Delta Air Eines, the overall numbers represent a boom. Airbus also netted a healthy 220 orders for its A319/320/32l'narrowbodies, MaMSm Aircraft AIRBUS A30O600R A310-300 A319 A320 A321 A330 A340 Total Value BOEING 737-3/4/5 737-6/7/8 747 757 767*** 777 Total Value iMM I'MUHI' Deliveries Orders 14 2 18 38 16 10 28 126 S8.8bn 76 0 26 42 44 32 220 $19.3bn 15 0 57 128 50 42 34 326 S23.6bn 153 296 75 59 44 90 717 Sp*tH 1996 r.mmw Cancelled Net orders 4 0 0 2 13 0 6 25 $2.8bn* 101 -1 9 15 32 2 158 $53.0bn $10.2bn MCDONNELL DOUGLAS MD-11 MD-80 MD-90 MD-95 Total Value* TOTAL VALUE* 15 12 24 0 51 $2.9bn 397 10 17 19 0 46 $2.4bn 1,089 $31.0bn S79.Obn 1 0 7 0 8 S0.4bn 191 ii 0 57 126 37 42 28 301 S20.8bn 52 297 66 44 12 88 559 $42.8bn 9 17 12 0 38 $2.0bn 898 $13.4bn $65.6bn Backlog 23 9 120 260 141 113 87 753 S58.4bn 247 517 161 134 86 273 1,418 $116.0bn* 15 29 105 50 199 $7.6bn 2,370 $182bn 1995 Deliveries Net orders 17 2 0 34 22 30 19 124 $9.6bn 89 0 25 43 36 13 206 2 4 30 29 11 31 8 87 $5.0bn* 60 129 35 -7 26 83 326 $13.9bn $28.4bn* 18 18 14 0 50 S3.9bn 380 $27.4bn -6 -6 57 50 95 $2.2bn 508 S35.6bn NOTES 'Values = Flight International'estimates calculated from manufacturer or list price figures • * Cancellations = may be" positive" where an order has been converted from one aircraft type to another but no "new" order has taken place ** 'Boeing 767 figures include two -200ERs delivered for AWACS configuration deliveries of which drew almost level with those of the 737. Perhaps better news came from a return of orders for the A3 30/340. Total deliveries edged up to just below 400 aircraft in 1996 and are now climbing rapidly. Airbus pre dicts production of 183 aircraft this year and around 220 in 1998, bringing the European consortium up to its existing capacity limits. On the basis of announced pro duction rate increases, Boeing would also climb back to record output levels of around 450 air craft. Assuming that MDC] contin ues to work off its backlog for another two years, that would take combined annual output to 720 aircraft by 1998. J NEWS IN BRIEF • KAWASAKI IN THE TRENT Kawasaki Heavy Industries has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Rolls- Royce to take a 6% stake in its Trent 900 programme. The 356kN (80,000lb)-thrust en gine is aimed at the yet-to- be-launched Boeing 747X and Airbus A3XX projects. The Japanese company is the first risk-sharing partner to join Rolls-Royce on the pro ject, and will undertake design and manufacture in the turbine section. Airbus closes in on AE-100 development agreement AIRBUS INDUSTRIE is ex pected to announce shordy its team to head Europe's participa tion in the joint development of the proposed Air Express AE-100 regional passenger aircraft in part nership with China and Singapore. The new Airbus team will assume responsibility for the pro gramme from Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)), which was lead- ing negotiations with China. The move follows a wide-rang ing agreement under which AI(R) partner Alenia Aerospazio will be come a future partner in Airbus. Alenia is to take a 38% stake in the new Asian Airbus subsidiary being formed to partner Aviation In dustries of China (AVIC) and Singapore Technologies (ST). Airbus plans to market the AE- 100 as part of its own product range and is already referring to it internally as the A318. The aircraft is intended to complement and have commonality with Airbus' existing A319/320/321 narrow- body family of aircraft. An overall joint-venture agree ment with AVIC] and ST has still to be reached, however. The new European team is due to meet shortly with its Asian counterparts to review the outstanding issues. One Chinese source says tiiat a major problem remaining is the size of the aircraft. AVIC is propos ing development of a family of three jet-powered airliners, seating 90-to 100-, 115-to 120-and 13 5- to 140-seats. Airbus is concerned that this will overlap with die A319, which seats around 140 passengers in a single-class layout or 124 in two-class configuration. AVIC argues that aircraft will be lighter and cheaper to operate than the A319 and so better able to rival the Boeing 737 at the lower end of the market. J FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15 - 21 January 1997
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