MKT626P INTERNATIONAL MARKETING (MBA)

Singin’ in the rain

Demand for civil aircraft is booming. Who will supply it?

Emrah Gurpinar

Student ID:307873

Instructor

Dr. Hibbi M. Omar

06/29/2013
Researching Article Name : Singin’ in the rain
Demand for civil aircraft is booming. Who will supply it?

Published by : The Economist

Published Date : Jun 22 2013

1. NEWS of new aircraft, orders and technology rained from the skies this week at the Paris
Air Show, where a bumper crowd of producers and customers dodged a real downpour
with mingled curses and exhilaration.
2. As emerging economies grow, enthusiasm for air travel is growing even faster.
Technological advances have made aircraft cheaper and cleaner to run, so airlines
everywhere are keen to replace older planes. According to Boeing’s annual forecast,
published this month, more than 35,000 new aircraft—worth perhaps $4.8 trillion—will
be needed over the next 20 years.
3. Seattle-based Boeing insisted it had expected to be outsold in Paris by the home team
(Airbus is owned by the French-German-Spanish EADS). It still managed a creditable
haul of its own.
4. But for once it was not just “the usual pingpong between Boeing and Airbus”, as French
television put it. Other firms, including ones from developing countries, have long been
eyeing the mainstream single-aisle market, where growth is strongest. They are closing
in.
5. Closest of all is Bombardier of Canada. Pierre Beaudoin, its boss, promises that its new
CSeries, aimed at the 100- to 150-seat market, will make its maiden flight this month,
give or take a week, and that deliveries will start in 2014.
6. Embraer, the Brazilian firm that is Bombardier’s biggest rival in the market for smaller
“regional” jets, confirmed at the show that it would revamp its E-Jet, designed for the 70-
to 130-seat market, and said it already had 300 orders and options for the new version.
7. Russia too has aspirations. In Paris Irkut, owned by the United Aircraft Corporation
(UAC), displayed a mock-up of its planned 130- to 150-seater MC-21, which will again
use the geared turbofan engine (and eventually a Russian one).
8. Among the missing at the air show was China’s candidate to take on Boeing and Airbus
—the COMAC C919. The 150-plus seater was scheduled for a maiden flight in 2014 but
development has been knocked off course.
9. The barriers to entry in aerospace are high. But the world is not always as static as those
on top would have it. After all, Britain used to make airliners—and Airbus used not to.
Summary;

This article focuses on a recent trade show and the international small aircraft market. Talking about the
two dominants players, Airbus and Boeing, the article compares the two company’s new offerings with
those of their smaller rivals from Canada and the developing economies.

According to the article, emerging economies are growing and as a result air travel is growing as well.
Boeing officials say that more than 35,000 new aircraft, worth around $4.8 trillion, will be needed over
next 20 years.

Airbus is one step ahead of Boeing with the first flight of its new A350 on Jun 14 th. During the show,
Airbus got an extra 59 new orders in addition to the 643 previous orders.

However, Airbus and Boeing are not alone in the mainstream single-aisle market. Some developing
countries have their own firms, such as Bombardier from Canada, Embraer from Brazil and UAC from
Russia. Also China is working to build the COMAC C919, which will have a 150 plus seating capacity.

Even though the barriers to entry in aerospace are so high, they are not unbreachable. New actors will
able to come by in the coming decades.