Airbus gets orders from three Asian airlines

PARIS — Asian and low-cost airlines defied worries about the global recession and placed orders with Airbus at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday, in sharp contrast to rival Boeing, which reported no new sales.

Plane makers at the world's biggest air show are trying to coax airlines and governments to open their pocketbooks and buy more aircraft despite plunging passenger loads and revenues.

Airbus CEO Tom Enders declared that Tuesday's sunny skies, after pelting rain on Monday's opening day, boded well for business.

Airbus announced two firm orders from Vietnam Airlines and Philippines low-cost airline Cebu Pacific worth $1.8 billion. Vietnam Airlines ordered 16 A321 single-aisle jets worth $1.4 billion and pledged to buy two more A350-XWB planes.

The airline made a deposit and signed a memorandum of understanding for the two A350 planes, which falls short of a firm sale and means Airbus does not count the order in its overall tally.

Cebu Pacific made a firm order for five single-aisle A320s worth a total $385 million at list prices. Airlines often negotiate substantial discounts to catalog prices, particularly in tough economic times.

Kuala Lumpur low-cost airline Air Asia ordered 10 A350-900 jets and placed options for five more. The list price for the 10 jets would be $2.4 billion.

Charlie Miller, Boeing's vice president for international corporate communications, shrugged off the Airbus announcements.

"Airbus and Boeing approach air shows in a different way. Boeing doesn't save up orders to announce at air shows. That has been our policy for years. Our policy is to announce orders as soon as they are firm. And the tally is updated weekly," Miller said.

Both rivals sought to minimize expectations this year amid worries about credit markets, the global economy and the unexplained crash of Paris-bound Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic this month.

"This is not the time to expect huge orders, but there are still orders coming in because the situation is different from region to region" and company to company, Airbus' Enders told a news conference. "What counts for our numbers, our financial health, is not orders but turning our backlog into delivery."

Enders also sought to reassure the thousands of Airbus workers amid cutbacks across the aviation industry. "We are very much interested in keeping stable the most important asset we have in our company ... our skilled work force," he said.

Russia's Sukhoi won attention and domestic orders in a bid to revive the country's civilian-aircraft industry. Sukhoi notched up 28 more orders for its new SuperJet 100 regional airliner, a day after signing a letter of intent with Hungarian national carrier Malev for 30 aircraft.

Moscow-based Avia leasing company placed a firm order Tuesday for 24 of the planes, while Spain's Gadair European Airlines ordered two jets with an option for two more. The value of the deals was not released.

SuperJet International is a joint venture between Italy's Alenia Aeronautica and Russian jet maker Sukhoi Civil Aircraft.

French regional aircraft maker ATR and the Spanish carrier Air Nostrum signed a contract for the purchase of 10 ATR 72-600s, plus options for 10 additional aircraft. The deal is worth some $425 million, including options.

Toulouse, France-based ATR says it leads in the 50- to 74-seat turboprop market.

Associated Press writers Slobodan Lekic at Le Bourget contributed to this report.