2009-11-17 09:55:03
WAM Abu Dhabi, Nov 17th, 2009 (WAM) -- The region's biggest air show is back in town, thrilling onlookers with its aerial displays and pumping hope into an industry that, due to the recession, has lost much of its thrust, opined a UAE daily.

The biennial Dubai Airshow, now underway for the 11th time, has emerged as a clear equal to much older aviation fairs in Paris and the UK town of Farnborough, observed Dubai-based Khaleej Times in its today's editorial " New Horizons for Dubai Air Show".

The paper has said that when it last met two years ago, airlines and plane-makers announced a staggering $155 billion in total orders for new aircraft. Participants always knew that this number would be hard to top, even with the continuing relentless expansion of airlines in the Middle East. And the stellar success of that show preceded the economic crisis and the ensuing downturn in global aviation, its worst in decades.

"This week's event at the Airport Expo is, understandably, a much more subdued affair than the bonanza of 2007. The industry's distress is obvious; Etihad Airways, one of the world's fastest-growing carriers, reports that its passenger traffic in the UAE fell by one-third during the summer from the same period last year. Most of the show's exhibitors are here to wave their corporate flag and shore up relationships with existing clients. Few expect to strike new deals", it observed.

European plane-maker Airbus has made the most noise so far, announcing orders for aircraft worth $3.7 billion at list prices from two airlines in Ethiopia and Yemen. But Airbus set the show's tone in its first news conference, which focused less on new sales than on helping airlines cut their fuel costs through the use of new, eight-foot tall wingtips. Airbus' US rival Boeing has yet to announce a single order for commercial jets, the editorial read.

Meanwhile, the region's largest airlines - Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways - are showing little appetite after gorging on orders for new planes at other recent air shows.

Etihad ordered up to 205 planes at last year's air show at Farnborough. Etihad Chief Executive Officer James Hogan, asked if he planned to announce any purchases this week, answered with a firm "No." Like many other carriers, Etihad needs to digest what it has gobbled already, the paper remarked.

So, smaller deals are the order of the day. Flydubai said yesterday that it has arranged $160 million in aircraft financing. Canada's Bombardier Aerospace disclosed the sale of a sole business jet. All are waiting for the early signs of economic revival to gel into a lasting recovery for their industry.

"If there's any strong uplift at this week's show, it will most likely come from the military side of the aviation business. Two of every five exhibitors are involved in defence-related fields. And the multitude of visitors in military uniforms, many of them youthful UAE air cadets in gold braid, attest to the interest that nations in the Gulf have in building and maintaining a strong defence", it concluded.

WAM/AMIR