The Fanblade

The star of the show was the Superjet 100 because it was making its big show debut

The Paris Air Show, where I was working for Aviation International News on the show dailies (see www.ainonline.com), was surprisingly upbeat despite a lack of big stories. It was also very busy on Tuesday and Wednesday, after a very wet Monday. We were there working from the Friday before the show, including the weekend, from early til late as the Monday issue is always very full and plenty of companies send their latest snippets. The best story was Qatar Airways’ boss Akbar Al Baker’s berating of Boeing for its handling of the Boeing 787 – which we thought may make its maiden flight towards the end of the show (but in Seattle of course). It will probably fly next week, but first deliveries are now some two years behind the original schedule. It doesn’t seem long since I helped write a book on the project, visiting Seattle along with manufacturing sites in Charlston, Italy and Japan using a rickety, Dutch-rolling old 727 corporate jet that Boeing hired. That was 2006, and now is 2009, and Boeing’s delays have given Airbus real hope for its A350. The show saw Boeing’s Scott Carson revealing in a packed press conference in the auditorium that it is looking seriously at a re-winged 777. It has clearly realised that the 787 is too small to capture all the market the A350 can. Bombardier was quick off the marks at the show giving an upbeat market forecast (for after the recession, which it said was manageable (far more so than 2001) because of the big backlogs the industry has built up); and also an update on the CSeries – which is looking increasingly impressive to fill the “neglected” 100-149 seat segment. Embraer was very quiet although at the journalist awards I sat on their table, with Air & Cosmos journalist turned press man Herve Tilloy hosting. The company has been in a tussle with the government over cutting jobs but we didn’t discuss that, too political! Instead we discussed Serbian aviation with a Serbian aviation magazine founder who also sat at Embraer’s table. I asked whether Serbia had a low-cost carrier and (having had a few glasses of wine) one was duly invented by our Serb friend to fill the apparent vacuum – ‘No one Airways’ (better written as No 1 Airways) was given a tall lady journalist CEO. No prizes for guessing it was Mary Kirby (aka Flight’s ‘Runway Girl’), also on Embraer’s table. However we discovered that Serbs can only fly to Iraq, Cuba and Montenegro without a visa, so popular are they! After numerous gongs were handed out it was announced that Geoffrey Thomas was Aerospace Journalist of the Year. Good one Geoff (who was also with us on the Boeing 787 trip in ‘06). On the military side the A400M was the latest target for AIN’s Chris Pocock, who also had half an eye to proving that the UAE had ordered Dassault Rafales from France. In the end little happened other than a greater awareness that the A400M was really an almighty cock-up of a project. If the UK pulls out, as looks possible, it could cause a chain reaction although Louis Gallois, EADS CEO, said France, Spain and Germany would carry on. Yet he was more interested in going to watch France beat the All Blacks at rugby than staying to watch Saturday’s EADS press day! Great achievement though it was, things are looking tough for EADS as it wonders how it can really afford the A350, A400M and A380 when customers are clamouring to delay aircraft and struggling to get finance for them. 2010 is going to be a real crunch time. I’ll sign off with a mention of GE, who with CFM and France’s Snecma handled the show in the most subtle yet professional manner of all – from the GEnx unveiling to spinning a range of Etihad engine orders into the ‘biggest ever’ – to CFM’s fun but not at all ostentatious shindig in the Tuileries Gardens glass house – topped by an unfussy but effective press release to sum up the show as it had been for GE/Snecma/CFM. CFM really sets the standard for international aerospace joint ventures, and GE gets the gong for Aerospace Company of the Year (Note to Ian Bustin at Rolls-Royce: You can have it at Farnbrough 2010 – but only if England wins the World Cup!)

Look out for the next issue of the highly successful Arabian Aerospace magazine, which will include a focus on Kuwait  following FB’s visit this month. Runway lengthening and strengthening work starts soon – at present A380s can only use KIA as an alternate – and a third runway is planned west of 33L. Kuwait Airways is meanwhile hoping that its longed-awaited fleet renewal programme can get underway. An Amiri decree dictates that the airline must be privatised first so that a strategic partner can be secured. After liberalisation in 2005 Kuwait has seen low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways and now premium travel Wataniya Airways start up, eating into the monopoly KAC once enjoyed.

Ronaldsway Airport, the Isle of Man’s main airport (situated at Castletown), is upgrading its runway to comply with ICAO’s RESA (Runway End Safety Area) requirements and is also having a new control tower constructed. FB was there for a week of R&R, but recently wrote an article for AIN’s EBACE Convention News (for the annual bizjet show in Geneva) on the Island’s very successful aircraft register, which is now two years old. Brian Johnson, Director of Civil Aviation, hopes thatit will become the register of choice for private aircraft.

The new control tower at Ronaldsway is going up fast