Jetrader - Autumn 2015 - 20

14 Exotic bird; Pakistan's JF-17 "Thunder."
15 A350 in carbon fibre livery.
16 Fokker "SkyView" 54.5-inch (1385mm) by 19.5-inch (495mm)
panoramic window.
17 Viking's reborn Twin Otter.

aircraft at the end of April. Reportedly
to preserve the competitive equilibrium
between the two engine manufacturers,
the other CFMI LEAP-1A powered A320neo
test vehicle wasn't flown to Le Bourget.
This PW1100G incident strangely reminded
us of the uncontained engine failure the
Pratt & Whitney PW1500G suffered at
the end of May last year, weeks before the
Farnborough Air Show. These problems prevented the Bombardier CSeries from making
its show debut in the UK. Fortunately, this
year, Bombardier could show off its brand
new single-aisle aircraft in Paris. While
not as impressive by its size, Bombardier's
demo flight drew a lot of attention. For
many show visitors, the prototype of the
stretched CS300 was the first time seeing
a Bombardier CSeries. Its little sister, the
CS100 in Swiss livery, did not participate
in the flight program.

One of the most impressive demo flights
came from the Boeing 787-9 in Vietnam
livery. Similar to last year, Boeing released
a video before the air show of the flight
rehearsals over Moses Lake, including a
rocket-style takeoff. Although even an
empty 787-9 can't do a completely vertical takeoff, it is impressive to see the
capabilities of a modern commercial jet. In
terms of vertical climb capability, the 787
came close to the A400M military transport,
but both were outdone by the two fighter
jets - the Dassault Rafale and a Pakistan
Air Force JF-17.
Overall, the Paris Air Show proved to be
a nice aviation event with decent business
volume but a little disappointing in terms of
the number of aircraft in the flying display.
Highlights included the still-new A350-900,
the exotic Pakistan JF-17, the impressive
climb performance of the 787-9, and the

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

show debut of the CSeries. We probably have
to get used to air shows not breaking any
records in terms of order volume for the
coming years. With the generation change
in the commercial aircraft space now almost
completed, we can't expect many new aircraft types being announced by the manufacturers either. Maybe an A380-900neo
or an A350-1200 next year? How about a
Boeing 787-10ER or a CS500? The widely
discussed middle market 757 successor is
probably years away and only seems to make
sense as a part of a new family. What we can
look forward to with some certainty is the
show debut of the A320neo in Farnborough
next year, followed in later years by the
A330neo, A350-1000, 737 MAX, 787-10,
777X, C919, E2 and MRJ. Hopefully, when
these planes take to the skies in Paris 2017
or 2019, there won't be too many gendarmes
blocking our view.

Jetrader - Autumn 2015

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