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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1347.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AIRBUS/BOEING ORDERS AND DELIVERIES Deliveries Airbus A300 A310 A318 A319 A320 A321 A330 A340-300 A340-500/600 A380 Total Boeing 717 737 747 757 767 777 Total Grand total 5 0 3 44 54 16 19 5 15 0 161 6 105 9 8 4 19 151 312 Notes: Changes: negative one model to another, but *At 30 June 2004 Orders 0 0 4 32 51 5 6 1 5 0 104 6 61 8 0 4 3 00 0 0 - FIRST HALF Changes Net orders 0 0 0 +3 +2 -5 -3 0 -1 0 -4 0 -4 0 0 0 0 -4 -8 0 0 4 35 53 0 3 1 4 0 100 6 57 8 0 4 3 78 178 Backlog* 59 5 71 352 431 104 171 9 62 129 1,393 36 783 36 5 25 152 1,037 2,430 = cancellations; positive = an order has been converted from IO "new" order has taken place Source: Airbus/Boeing ANALYSIS MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON Airliner orders drop by a third But Airbus is confident of leap in second half of 2004 Orders for Airbus and Boeing airlin ers were down by more than a third during the first half of 2004, to 178, compared with the 284 net sales during same period last year. But at least one of the players is confident that it will still achieve a year-end order tally on a par with its 2003 performance. As the above table shows, Airbus leads Boeing in both output and orders during the January-June 2004 period, with its 100 net sales representing 56% of the total. Airbus orders slid by over 40% com pared with last year, while Boeing sales are down a little over a quarter. The two manufacturers secured a total of 493 net orders during the whole of 2003, split 254/239 in Airbus's favour. Despite its deficit at the half-year mark, the European manufacturer is confident that it can make up lost ground in the second half and equal last year's performance. The A320 family made up the bulk of Airbus's orders (92), and although Boeing had a better spread the 737 was still its major seller taking 57 net orders. The A340-300 had just a single order in the first half, and its backlog has declined to a single-digit number (nine). Meanwhile, just five 757s remain to be delivered before pro duction ends. "We plan on being in roughly the same ballpark in terms of order intake this year, bearing in mind that the first half has been soft, as predicted," said Airbus president and chief executive Noel Forgeard in Toulouse last month. Boeing has not yet converted any 7E7 commitments into firm orders, but it is expected to finalise contracts during the second half of the year. With deliveries up 6% and sales down during the first half, the total order backlog has declined by 5%. Airbus continues to hold the lead with 57% market share. EXPANSION JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON Thai carriers to battle no-frills competition Two of Thailand's largest indepen dent airlines are embarking on diverging expansion strategies in a bid to head off increasing no-frills competition on domestic routes. Phuket Air is to double its Boeing 747 fleet by the end of the year to 12 aircraft as it launches an ambitious long-haul strategy, while Bangkok Airways is to start several medium-haul regional rou tes with its new Airbus A320 fleet. Several start-up airlines offering low fares on Thai domestic and short-haul routes have appeared in the past year, including Air Anda man, PB Air, Orient Thai and Thai Airways International subsidiary Nok Air, driving down yields, says Bangkok Airways vice-president Nandhika Varavarn. Bangkok Airways is phasing out its remaining three ATR 72-200s and acquiring six ATR 72-500s for domestic services, while taking delivery later this year of its first two 163-seat A320s from an order of four. The Bangkok-based carrier is to start three-times weekly flights to Male in the Maldives from the fourth quarter, and is in talks with five Chinese airports to launch fur ther A320 services from next year. Meanwhile, rival Phuket Air is CARGO EMMA KELLY / PERTH Qantas carries on expanding in Asia with Bangkok deal Qantas is continuing its expansion into Asian markets with a 49% invest ment in Bangkok-based freight airline Thai Air Cargo. The Australian airline declines to reveal the level of investment, but says it is "relatively small", believed to be a couple of million Australian dollars. Qantas's part ner in the venture is Thai company CTI Holding. Thai Air Cargo has been established for a number of years and has an operator licence for domestic and international cargo services and intra- Asian traffic rights, but has yet to launch operations. Thai Air Cargo will start services in October, says Qantas. It will begin operations from Bangkok on a small scale, with just one leased aircraft, probably a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, operating to China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore. "It will provide a lot of opportunities for Qantas cargo oper ations to expand into other Asian markets," says the Australian carrier. This year has already seen the expansion of Qantas's Asian freight activities, with the launch of a twice-weekly freighter service between Sydney, Singapore, Shanghai and Chicago. Qantas's involvement in Thai Air Cargo follows the airline's 49.9% investment earlier this year in a new Singapore-based low-cost airline, which is due to start operations before the end of this year. pinning its hopes on long-haul ser vices, with plans to acquire five more 747-200/300s before January, in addition to the six in service and a seventh set to be delivered this month, says senior vice-chair man Kanin Phuvastien. The carrier added a three-times weekly service from Bangkok to London Gatwick this month and is launching ser vices to Sydney in October. Phuket Air also plans to launch services to Moscow Sheremetyevo before the end of the year, and has started services to Dubai via Chit- tagong, Bangladesh. The airline also has provisional approval to launch services to Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi in India, he adds. Phuket Air retains four 737-200s and four NAMC YS-11 turboprops on its Thai routes, but Phuvastien says expansion in the domestic sector was dismissed because low- cost competition is lowering yields and the privately owned airline had enough capital to acquire widebody aircraft. "London is the first step into Europe and paves the way for future expansion in this market, where there is still significant underserved demand," he says. 20 20-26 JULY 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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