Company Watch - Airbus.

For more company news, data and analysis, please go to: http://www.airguideonline.com/professional.htm Jul 31, 2006

Airbus unveiled a revamped A350 XWB at Farnborough and was able to secure an order by week's end. While Emirates and International Lease Finance Corp. say they have not seen guarantees on the A350 XWB, an SIA spokesperson said that airline "had been given guarantees." SIA's order for the A350 XWBs does not affect its commitment for up to 40 787s. Jul 24, 2006

Airbus announced firm orders and commitments from 12 customers for 182 aircraft valued at $21.5 billion at Farnborough. "This air show clearly demonstrates the confidence our customers are placing in Airbus to deliver the product they need," new President and CEO Christian Streiff said. Jul 24, 2006

Blue Wings last week signed an MOU with Airbus for 20 A320 family aircraft, the plane-maker announced. The order is worth $1.6 billion at list prices, according to Reuters, which said the deal reached at Farnborough comprised 16 150-seat A320s and four 185-seat A321s to be delivered starting in 2009. Blue Wings is based in Dusseldorf and operates mostly charter services to Turkey, the Middle East and South Asia. It plans to launch flights to the CIS. It is 48% owned by Alpstream AG, a Zurich-based affiliate of Russian National Reserve Corp. Jul 25, 2006

EU says U.S. tries to unfairly influence subsidy talks. EU officials say the U.S. is trying to tilt possible talks over aircraft subsidies too heavily in Boeing's favor. The U.S. and the EU brought the dispute to the World Trade Organization in 2005 but both say they would prefer a negotiated agreement. European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson said the United States was trying to give Boeing too great an advantage in possible talks to resolve a row with European plane maker Airbus over state subsidies. Jul 25, 2006

EADS reports 9% earnings decline, warns of 'huge challenges".Airbus parent EADS yesterday reported a [euro]527 million ($663.9 million) second-quarter net profit, down 9% from [euro]582 million in the year-ago quarter, on revenues of [euro]9.9 billion, a 10% rise over last year.It conceded that "operational issues" leading to A380 delivery delays, the A350 redesign and the resignations of top executives at both EADS and Airbus made the second quarter a difficult one. It also lowered its profit forecast for the full year, saying it now estimates 2006 EBIT of [euro]3.2 billion. Previously, it said its EBIT could be as high as [euro]3.4 billion. "Together we will address the huge challenges ahead," co-CEOs Tom Enders and Luis Gallois said in a statement. "We will rebuild the market's confidence in EADS." Airbus reported second-quarter EBIT before exceptional items of [euro]810 million, a 1% dip from EBIT of [euro]816 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenues rose 8% to [euro]6.79 billion from [euro]6.27 billion last year. In the first half of 2006, Airbus delivered 219 aircraft compared to 189 in the same period last year and received 117 gross orders, not including the 182 additional orders announced at the Farnborough Airshow. Jul 28, 2006

GATX Air acquired two new A320s from Tiger to be leased back to the LCC for 12 years following delivery in October 2006 and November 2007. Jul 27, 2006

Indigo, a new low-fare carrier headquartered in New Delhi, with ambitions to become India's largest domestic airline, has celebrated the delivery of its first A320 family aircraft, also becoming the newest Airbus operator. Indigo placed a firm order for 100 A320 family aircraft in June 2005. Services will begin in the autumn. Indigo will receive five more aircraft this year, followed by more in 2007. The airline will receive the delivery of all 100 A320 family aircraft by 2016. CEO is 44-year old Bruce Ashby, formerly with US Airways. It has no connection with Go Air, another Indian airline which started operations from Mumbai last November. http://book.goindigo.in http://www.goair.in Jul 29, 2006

Armavia A320 crash that killed 113 people in May was attributable to what appears to be a loss of situational awareness by the flight crew, Russian aviation officials stated yesterday, according to press reports. Last month's flight data recorder analysis revealed no problem with the aircraft. According to civil aviation head Tatyano Anodina, the aircraft was too low on approach and the crew was unable to respond in a timely manner to a GPWS alert. It is not clear whether the aircraft was equipped with Enhanced GPWS. The aircraft was 11 years old and was in good condition, according to Armavia. Jul 27, 2006

Singapore Airlines is taking delivery of its nine new A380s from mid-2008 led analysts to speculate that some carriers have either cancelled delivery positions or let them slip. The latest production delays mean that Airbus likely will not catch up on deliveries until 2010, analysts said. No airlines have announced any cancellations formally, although industry speculation mounts on the exact status of orders by Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways. Jul 24, 2006

Singapore Airlines has ordered Boeing planes worth USD$4.5 billion, and then followed up with a surprise USD$7.5 billion order for Airbus earlier this month. The airline learnt last month that deliveries of the new Airbus A380 superjumbo, which Singapore Air hopes to fly at the end of this year, will be at least six months late. Jul 28, 2006