Dubai Airshow a Record Breaker

The recent Dubai Airshow, which was held in Dubai from 11–15 November, resulted in record numbers of orders for a wide range of aircraft and aerospace products, as well as record sales values (at least US$100 billion)—the highest ever achieved at any aviation event in the world and five times those of the 2005 Dubai show.

The most significant order was that of Dubai’s own airline, Emirates, which placed the largest single order of commercial aircraft ever made, for 143 aircraft valued at around US$35 billion, as well as a cabin service trainer installation valued at $8.8 million. The next most significant order, worth around $27 billion, was for 200 aircraft—100 each from Airbus and Boeing. It was placed by aircraft leasing company DAE (Dubai Aerospace Enterprise).

Airbus received orders and commitments for 340 aircraft; Boeing, 186. Between the Paris and Dubai airshows this year, the two manufacturers received orders and commitments for up to 715 aircraft—62% of Boeing’s total sales prediction for the Middle East until 2026 and 76% of Airbus’s prediction for the same period (543 orders and commitments came from Dubai, and 172 from Paris).

Of Airbus’s 163 firm orders at the Dubai show, 80—from two customers—were for its A350XWB; firm orders for the type now stand at 276 from 11 customers. In addition to a further order by Emirates for another 11 A380s, another was sold to a private customer—HRH Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia—for eventual use as a flying palace to replace his existing Boeing 747-400 (the only privately owned 747-400 in the world).

The biennial Dubai airshow is now the third-largest aerospace exhibition in the world. This year’s event featured 850 companies from 50 countries and over 140 aircraft.

The 2009 Dubai Airshow will be bigger again and will move to a new, purpose-built facility at Dubai World Central at Jebel Ali, only 30 km from downtown Dubai.

By the end of this year’s show, large numbers of industry participants had already booked space for the 2009 event, many of them substantially increasing the size of their stands and chalets. Major industry names which have confirmed for Dubai Airshow 2009 include Boeing, Cessna, Eclipse, KBR, Hawker, Crane and Pratt & Whitney.