As the royal contingent led by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum toured the Dubai Airshow site yesterday morning, anticipation grew over the prospects of sales and other commercial activity at the Middle East’s premier aerospace event. Boeing and Emirates Airline did their part during the show’s opening press conference, announcing a commitment for forty 787-10 Dreamliners due for first delivery in 2022. But as the day wore on, a waiting game ensued for an expected order from Emirates for Airbus A380s and, by the time AIN went to press, it appeared everyone would have to wait a little longer–most likely this will be today's big news, according to sources close to the European airframer.
The potential Airbus deal, expected to involve more than 30 A380s, would have signaled a resurrection of sorts for the superjumbo, whose dwindling backlog and lack of recent commercial activity have prompted a decidedly negative outlook from industry analysts. Now building only 20 A380s per year, Airbus’s order backlog has shrunk to about 100, prompting plans by Airbus to cut production to eight per year in 2019. The total now in operation has only reached around 220 (with 317 ordered in total to date).
For the 787-10, the commitment from Emirates represented something of a breakthrough, catapulting the biggest Dreamliner into prominence in a region where smaller members of the family operate with fellow Gulf carriers Etihad and Qatar Airways.
On the defense side, the first day saw no major announcements apart from the UAE choosing to upgrade its F-16s in a contract announced with U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin. That's not to say the defense side of the show wasn't interesting; the Chinese PLAAF display team was making its debut at a major international airshow (see image, page 4) and the Kawasaki C-2 was also being seen for the first time in the West.
The backdrop on the defense side is the multi-year wait for a UAE fighter order, and while the F-35 isn't at the show this time, it seems likely it could be here at the next Dubai Airshow, in 2019.