Boeing inks China and Dubai deals
 

(From the BBC)

The Emirates deal got the Dubai Air Show off to a flying start
Boeing has signed two massive deals to supply aircraft to Chinese firms and to Dubai's Emirates Airlines.
China is buying seventy Boeing 737 aircraft - a $4bn (£2.32bn) deal that is said to be the largest in Chinese aviation history.

And, as the Dubai Air Show opened on Sunday, Emirates ordered forty-two 777 jets in a deal worth $9.7bn (£5.64bn).

The deal marks a major boost for Boeing in the Middle East, where it is competing fiercely with Airbus.

Boeing's arch-rival responded with the signing of a $2.9bn contract with Kuwaiti leasing firm Alafco for 12 A350 aircraft.

Kuwaiti no-frills carrier Jazeera Airways also announced it had signed up to buy six Airbus A320s.

Booming market

Airbus and Boeing have been battling it out to win orders in the Middle East, a fast-growing aviation market relatively unchallenged by rocketing fuel prices and terror threats.

Airline Emirates had already purchased 45 Airbus superjumbo A380 aircraft - the single largest customer for the new jet, which put in an appearance at the air show on Saturday.

The airline hopes to make the Gulf a major regional transport hub as it positions itself as a leading carrier on routes between Europe and Asia.

China's deal with Boeing was hailed as a promising sign for future co-operation between China and the US by China's official news agency Xinhua.

The agreement was signed as President George W Bush visited Beijing.

China is forecast to need more than 3,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years.

Earlier this year, Boeing announced it was selling 60 of its 787 "Dreamliner" jets to China for $7.2bn.

At the moment Boeing planes make up two-thirds of the country's present fleet, while rival Airbus holds a 28% share.

China is expected to become the world's second-biggest aviation market over the next 20 years.

The last comment could easily become true-if it is accurate, as stated in "the Economist" (?), that China now controls the world's economy-so many businesses now prefer to have their products made there.

Out of curiosity, do Chinese flight/duty time regulations exist? If so, are they complied with most of the time?

An article years ago in "Business Week (US)" magazine claimed that mainland China's airline pilots often worked up to about 120 hours per month, possibly more? Does a safety culture exist where the government is in control of everything?

Who has the detached/objective facts about the present situation?:hmm:

The latest:
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuot...1091048_newsml

I see Al Jazeera are buying Airbus. George dubblya will have to bomb them now. :p

Aljazeera and Jazeera Airways are 2 different entities. However, as far as bombing Aljazeera goes:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...162E6C6EC1.htm

It's been a good show, as far as acft orders are concerned, but still a few more to come - Qatar is expected to confirm its 777 deal and apparently, there are apparently more acft orders due from M/E carriers.

As for Jazeera, it's only Arabic for "peninsula"; seems a pretty good name for an Arabian carrier. With any luck, it will shake KU out of its slumber.

Even after Dubai, a few interesting orders are expected in '05; CX is expected to pick the 777-300ER and of course, Qantas's mega order is expected on 7 Dec. And, from an Irish perspective, Aer Lingus's order is expected within the next two months (12 A350s predicted); not just Christmas to look forward to. :D ;)

Although Boeing was first out of the gate, it looks like Airbus won this time:

http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre...14billion.html