Round 1 of the Paris Airshow, all Airbus

Paris (FRANCE) – Airbus dominated the first day of the Paris Airshow by securing orders for 318 planes compared to 46 for Boeing. Several airlines and leasing companies lined up to make firm offers on the Airbus A320 and upcoming models of the A350 XWB and super jumbo A380.

In total seven airlines and two leasing companies made firm offers to buy planes from Airbus. US Airways agreed to buy 92 new Airbus planes which include a mix of A320s, A350 XWBs and A330-200 while Qatar Airways bought 80 A350 XWBs and 3 more A380 super jumbo jets.

Airlines are slowly buying more A380s after Airbus showed off the plane in recent trips to Los Angeles and New York. Emirates Airline, the first customer to buy the plane, will order eight more A380s while Air France will buy 2 more. The A380 can carry up to 853 passengers for a maximum range of 8000 nautical miles.

Of course only day one of the airshow is over and Boeing still has plenty of time to seal deals with major airlines. General Electric Commercial Aviation Services did agree to buy six additional Boeing 777 freighters, an order which is worth about $1.42 billion. The 777 freighter can carry 229,000 lbs of cargo and has a 4885 nautical mile rangne. Jakarta-based Lion Air also agreed to buy 40 more 737-900 ER planes in a deal worth $3 billion.

Both Boeing and Airbus, which is owned by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, share the aviation market with approximately fifty percent share each.

More than half a million people visit the Paris Air Show every year. This year’s show runs until June 24th.