Air France and Dubai-based Emirates signed historic first orders for superjumbo aircraft yesterday, pledging to buy 17 Airbus A3XX planes even before the manufacturer has committed the model to production.
The launch contracts, worth about $4 billion (€4.29 billion) based on catalogue prices that are routinely discounted, put Airbus ahead of US rival Boeing in the companies' battle to move into a new category of planes larger than the 30-year-old 747.
"This aircraft is very important for our strategy - and very profitable," Air France president Mr Jean-Cyril Spinetta said. "It will be a key asset for all airlines who choose it."
Emirates signed the first order, for five passenger A3XXs and two freighters, and took options on another five planes. Air France signed a few minutes later for 10 airliners and options on another four.
Airbus chief executive Mr Noel Forgeard said his firm, owned by European aerospace firms EADS and BAE Systems would sign deals for 22 A3XXs at the week-long Farnborough show, suggesting that another five would come today or later.
He did not, however, say whether he was counting options.
Boeing is offering an enlarged version of the 747, the 747X, as a counter to the 555seat A3XX but has not yet announced any launch cus tomers. The US plane, with up to 522 seats, would be a little smaller, avoiding a direct head-to-head sales war.
Each manufacturer aims to sign conditional agreements such as the ones that Emirates and Air France signed on Monday. Once they have enough of those deals then they can justify the development, estimated at $12 billion for the Airbus but only $4 billion for the Boeing.
Boeing has said it wants 10 to 30 orders for the 747X before it goes ahead. Airbus has not specified a figure.
Airbus has been promoting its plane for years - and got several airlines to declare their interest in recent months - but Boeing has argued from the sidelines that the market was not yet ready for planes bigger than the 747.
Rolls-Royce plc and a joint venture of General Electric Co and Pratt & Whitney are each offering to develop the planes' engines, which would account for up to 20 per cent of the value of an order.
Air France and Emirates said they had not yet chosen an engine supplier for their planes.
