Jetrader - September/October 2010 - 18

Boeing’s Joe Ozimek, managing director aircraft programs & valuations. The interior of the 787 was a mix of test equipment and temporary seats. While not yet a full Dreamliner interior, a few of the innovative features were obvious. While the big bins and spacious layout were obvious, the most popular feature for the ISTAT members proved to be the electro-chromatic “dimmable windows.” Even one of Wall Street’s most respected analysts could not get enough of this feature. While already present at last year’s Paris Airshow, Sukhoi showed its Superjet 100, which is almost ready for its ﬁrst commercial deliveries. From Russia was the ﬁrst mock-up interior for the UAC MS-21. While not easy to get past the Russian security guards (“hospitality unit?”), the interior, designed and built by Weber Aircraft/Zodiac Aerospace, was absolutely impressive. Equipped with western electronics and Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, it demonstrated that this will not be your old “Tupolev” anymore. While the CSeries was the star of the last Farnborough show in 2008, the Canadian manufacturer is now working hard to set up the production for the new plane and consequently kept a slightly lower proﬁle this year as the prototype obviously is not yet completed. Archrival Embraer from Brazil—although enjoying several orders—also didn’t bring any remarkable planes to Farnborough. Maybe the same can be said for Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, but—while not very visible—their cabin mock-up showed the progress of the MRJ project.

So much for the “metal.” What really matters is, of course, “money.” There were few analysts who could have predicted the glut of orders announced this year, especially some of the lessors who made headlines by placing remarkable orders. After signing for 51 Airbus planes, John Leahy’s company ofﬁcially announced in a full-page ad that, “Steve Hazy’s taken off again.” Generous as always, Boeing, ATR and Embraer could also enjoy orders and MoU’s from Hazy’s Air Lease Corporation. CRECOM, a new leasing company from Malaysia, ordered 50 MS-21s and to the surprise of many, the ex-BCI management team, now working under the name Pearl Aircraft, signed an order for 30 Superjet 100 planes. Other major orders came from Emirates, GECAS, Aeroﬂot, LAN, Republic and many more. While Boeing and Airbus discussed—but not launched— re-engining projects for their narrow-body families, the “good old” A320/321 and Boeing 737-800 were selling like hot cakes at Farnborough. Most of the smart buyers of these aircraft are likely to have clauses in their contracts that will allow them to switch to any successor version, but still the “oldies” had a much better airshow compared to most of the advanced “next generation” types. Overall, Farnborough 2010 was a great success for visitors, manufacturers, lessors and airlines. Let’s hope the recovery is sustainable, so next year in Par is nobody will ask the question, “What were we thinking?”

18 The ofﬁcial publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading

Jetrader - September/October 2010

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