Things in the Sky

This week will certainly be busy in terms of posts. First, the Farnborough International Airshow is going this week. The manufacturers could be making big announcements, and the airlines might be making some big orders. In addition, earnings season is in full swing and the airlines will be starting tomororw as both American and Delta will be releasing their results and having their quarterly conference calls.

But on to the news…first we’ll dive into Farnborough. ATW has had good coverage of the show so far. Click here for Monday’s coverage and here for today’s.

As expected, the Gulf carriers have made a lot of orders so far, especially Ethiad. That airline bought 10 A380s, 20 A320s,  25 A350XWBs, 35 787s, and last but not least, 10 777s. Saudi Arabian Airlines ordered 8 A330-300s. FlyDubai, a new low cost carrier in the region that is supposedly starting operations next year, will be leasing 4 and purchasing 50 737-800s. (By the way, while the aritlce I linked to hints Emirates will run that airline as a subsidiary, the two will supposedly be separate.)

We’re in for a fun week. It will be interesting to compare the Boeing and Airbus order books when all is said and done.

In slightly older news, EgyptAir is now an official a Star Alliance member as of Friday. This development is good for Star as it now has two African carriers as members (the other is South African Airways), while Skyteam and Oneworld don’t have any. Star will gain a further advantage when Continental and its partners join the Star Alliance, for reasons I discussed earlier.