Big Airbus Orders to Be Announced at Paris Air Show
Assistant Editor, CNBC.com
A contract for 200 Airbus 320NEO, along with an option for another hundred aircrafts, are expected to be unveiled by the pan-European plane builder Airbus on Thursday.
The order, expected from the Malaysian low-cost airline Air Asia, would be worth $17 billion at price list and would then set an aviation history world record in terms of volume — the third — largest ever in terms of value.
Airbus declined any comments before its final press conference, set to take place at 10:00 London time.
The Paris air show, which opened on Monday, has been quite a success for the European company despite initial glitches, as American Airlines is also reported to be in talks with Airbus to buy a hundred A320 aircrafts.
Overall, Airbus is leading the race with American competitorBoeing , at the Paris air show, thanks to its selling of 727 A320NEO, the latest version in the A320 family.
Reaching the symbolic figure 1,000 sales at the event is within reach, John Leahy, the commercial director of Airbus, said.
