Airbus upbeat, but may have to wait for AirAsia deal

Paris: The world's biggest air show looked set on Wednesday for a muted finale after the owner of budget carrier AirAsia, often a source of last-minute dealmaking drama, played down the prospect of expected plane deals with Airbus or Embraer.

Delegates were already braced for a low-key Paris Airshow after Boeing struck huge deals during US President Donald Trump's recent trip to the Middle East. The US company then scaled back its presence at the show to focus on the probe into last week's deadly crash of an Air India Boeing 787.

But European rival Airbus has been steadily racking up business, and underscored its confidence about the future on Wednesday by holding out the prospect of higher dividends.

Talk was rife in the chalets that Airbus might seal deals with AirAsia for its A321XLR single-aisle jet and smaller A220 model to put a final gloss on the show.

Airline entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia owner Capital A Group, told Reuters that it was in talks to buy 50 to 70 A321XLR jetliners, and 100 A220s or competing E2 regional jets from Brazil's Embraer.

But he played down the prospect of a deal in Paris, saying the first priority was to complete the group's restructuring.

"I don’t think there’ll be an order at this air show. We’re still doing a lot of work with Airbus and other (manufacturers) .... I think we’ll look to do something imminently, in the next 1-3 months," he said in an interview.

Two industry sources said Airbus had made an "aggressive" offer to boost A220 orders and win a launch customer for a new 160-seat version, or kickstart a larger version still on the drawing board.

But they added that - barring any further twist in negotiations that could not be ruled out - the talks had stalled, partly over financing.

Still, other deals were getting done.

Embraer said on Wednesday it had secured an order for 60 of its E175 regional jets from SkyWest Airlines, which also agreed purchase rights for a further 50 of the aircraft.

Airbus announced an order for two A350 freighters from logistics company MNG Airlines, and EgyptAir was unveiled as the previously-undisclosed buyer of six A350-900 long-haul jets.

Planemakers have been struggling to keep up with demand for new, more fuel-efficient aircraft since the end of pandemic-era travel restrictions, with supply chain problems - particularly with engines - delaying some deliveries.

Airbus said on Wednesday, however, that since early 2025 it had experienced 40% fewer disruptions caused by delayed components at its production facilities.

On the defence side of the show, US drone maker Anduril and Germany's Rheinmetall said they would partner to build aerial drones for European markets, in a sign of Europe leveraging US technology to boost military capabilities.