LONDON: The International Airshow in Farnborough, now into its fifth day, has been particularly good for business for aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing. Both the companies announced substantial additions to their order books for the current financial year.

On the fourth day of the airshow, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said it has received orders for 29 jets, of which 9 are for US leasing company CIT Group Inc., and 20 were ordered by Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air.
At current list prices, the CIT Group’s order is worth about £550m (about $1.1bn). The leasing company said it would purchase five A330-200s and four A320s. The A330-200 jets are twin engine wide-bodied, long haul aircraft while the A320s are family single aisle planes meant for domestic operation. CIT ordered these aircraft for its aircraft leasing and financing business CIT Aerospace which currently manages a fleet of more than 280 aircraft.

The catalog prices for both A330-200 and A320 are $160m and $65m respectively taking Airbus’s total orders to 114 planes, valued at approx. $8.8bn.

Hungarian airline Wizz Air which runs an all Airbus fleet, said its order for 20 A320 is meant to help it “achieve the lowest unit cost�?. Last year, the low cost airline had ordered 12 A320s plus options to purchase another 12 planes.

Boeing meanwhile totted up new business taking order book value to $10bn at current list prices. This US-based aircraft manufacturer has been focusing on larger and more fuel-efficient jets aimed at long haul budget carriers. At the International airshow it announced that it had bagged orders for 76 aircraft, more of which were larger jets. Its order book for the current year has peaked at 510 planes, the jet maker said.

Both the airplane makers are using the international airshow to also reassure investors about the soundness of their individual business strategies and plans. On the first day Airbus said it had revamped the A350 whose earlier design received bad reviews from the industry. The redesigning cost the aircraft maker about $10bn and the new version is expected to rival Boeing’s Dreamliner with features like ‘Extra-wide body, roomier cabin, bigger windows and greater fuel efficiency. The new design would seat 350 passengers.