UK government announces new deals with Boeing

Leahy was speaking at the start of what is expected to be a relatively quiet Farnborough Airshow, despite higher long-term market forecasts issued by both Airbus and Boeing.

Jet and Boeing have actually delighted in years of strong need, assisted by increasing airline company travel especially in Asia and the Middle East and brand-new, more fuel-efficient airplanes.

The planemakers remain bullish, however. The 747-8 and the A380, both very big aircraft, have been hard to sell pver the last few years, however.

This will be driven largely by the growth of low-priced carriers and emerging markets, Boeing said on the first day of Britain’s Farnborough Airshow.

Boeing, however, predicts passenger traffic will grow by 4.8 percent over the next two decades and that will help to double the global commercial aircraft fleets in that time.

The deal involving the 50 AH-64E Apache helicopters is worth $2.3 billion, the ministry of defence said in a statement.

Historically lower fuel prices, hovering around $50 a barrel, are almost twice the lows reached earlier this year but are still roughly half the price of two years ago, illustrating the volatility around the airline industry’s most variable cost.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who announced his intention to step down after losing the European Union membership referendum last month, will attend the week-long show on Monday.

However, the Pentagon’s chief arms buyer said he didn’t think the decision would fundamentally alter Britain’s ties with the USA military or weapons-related trade.

Airbus is set to announce a key order for eight to 10 of its biggest twin-engined model, the A350-1000, from Virgin Atlantic after beating Boeing to a scarce order for big jets as economic and political uncertainties overshadow the Farnborough Airshow.

Airbus said this week it had booked 27 new plane orders in June and delivered 64, marking a hard road ahead to meet full-year targets.

Rival Boeing Co., the world’s largest plane maker, is ahead on new deals so far this year.

In a sign of mounting competition in the single-aisle market, Boeing said it would redesign the smallest version of its 737 MAX plane, increasing seating to 150 by adding 12 seats. Industry sources told Reuters on Sunday that AirAsia was lining up a deal with Airbus.