In the Paris sunshine this week (thus far), Boeing has managed to save-up/create enough orders for the 787 and 737Max types to make everything seem like a full continuation of the boom air show years of 2011-2015. This air show will go down as a very impressive one for Boeing. Airbus’s home show this week has been rather quiet by comparison but still by no means has it been a bad show. GECAS, AerCap, Avolon and Air Lease Corp have been at the forefront of orders for new aircraft types as one would expect and as such this show really is evidence that the core of the commercial aviation sector is as buoyant as ever.
There could be problems and positives on the road ahead and predicting those is all but impossible for the most part but we do know clearly that there is now a significant chance that Air Passenger Duty (APD tax) in the UK may be reduced or eliminated as the Democratic Unionist Party attempts to gain this concession for Northern Ireland within the next week or so as they seek a deal to bolster the UK government. This could be of great benefit to Flybe and British Airways, Jet2 and a number of other airlines during what is an uncertain economic period. Perhaps at the top of the worry list for most is any potential large-scale terror attack on the Spanish tourist sector. Aircraft have been redeployed into the Spanish market for some time now from other areas such as North Africa, Russia and Turkey and if bookings to Spain were to fall heavily, there would be a huge increase in parked aircraft within Europe.
Today though maybe the greatest uplift for the industry can come from the manufacturers getting aircraft delivered on time and on spec without rolling problems