THE MIL & AERO VIDEO BLOG, 17 July 2012. The 2012 Farnborough International Airshow is in the books, and although the event started out slowly, it turned into a near-record event for commercial and military aircraft sales. By my count, 800 aircraft were sold in and around the show -- with 500 firm orders and 300 options and conditional sales, as John Keller reports this week in the Mil & Aero Video Blog.

Video transcript:

Well, the 2012 Farnborough International Airshow is in the books, and although the event started out slowly, it turned into a near-record event for commercial and military aircraft sales. By my count, 800 aircraft were sold in and around the show -- with 500 firm orders and 300 options and conditional sales.

Organizers say the show this past week had aircraft sales worth $72 billion dollars -- close to 2008 peak of $88 billion, and way up from the 2010 show when airplane sales hit $47 billion dollars.

The Boeing-Airbus rivalry, as usual, dominated Farnborough, as Boeing sold 427 aircraft, compared with 123 for Airbus. It was a turnaround from Paris last summer when Airbus outsold Boeing 910 aircraft to 141.

It was a different story last year at Paris, as Airbus had introduced the new fuel-efficient A320neo single-aisle jetliner -- short for new engine option -- with new engines and aerodynamic enhancements that appeal to medium-range domestic passenger aircraft markets at a time of high fuel prices and tightening environmental regulations.

Airbus had this playing field to itself last year, and it showed, as the European aircraft maker sold 667 A320neo aircraft worth a collective $60.9 billion. But this year at Farnborough the A320neo had a major competitor.

Within a few months of the last Paris show, Boeing introduced the re-engined 737 MAX aircraft with aerodynamic improvements to compete directly with the A320neo, and at Farnborough last week the new Boeing jetliner made its presence known.

Boeing sold 367 737 MAX aircraft at Farnborough, while Airbus sold 37 A320neos. Perhaps Boeing has caught up with the market momentum that Airbus built over the past year.

Boeing's biggest day at Farnborough was Thursday -- the last business day of the show -- when the company announced a 150-plane deal to United Airlines. This sale involves 100 737 MAX aircraft and 50 737-900ER long-range narrow-bodies.

There were more aircraft deals at Farnborough last week than just Boeing and Airbus. Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Aircraft sold 100 MRJ Regional Jets, while Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace sold 52 Q400 NextGen, CRJ, and CSeries passenger aircraft.

Brazilian manufacturer Embraer and French manufacturer ATR sold 13 aircraft apiece, while U.S. manufacturer Hawker-Beechcraft sold one King Air turboprop to the FAA. Dassault Falcon, Sukhoi, and United Aircraft corporation of Russia were quiet at the show.

Helicopters also were part of the story as AgustaWestland booked deals for 70 light- and medium-lift helicopters, and announced a deal to develop a light helicopter together with Russian Helicopters.

As usual, Avionics Intelligence and Military & Aerospace Electronics provided start-to finish coverage of the Farnborough Airshow, which you can read in-depth in a special online section located at www.militaryaerospace.com/farnborough-report. You might want to set some time aside to look at the Farnborough Report coverage, because we wrote 64 stories for you.

For more information contact the Farnborough International Airshow online at www.farnborough.com. Also read Military & Aerospace Electronics and Avionics Intelligence Farnborough show coverage at www.militaryaerospace.com/farnborough-report.

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