The stream of plane orders continued at the Farnborough International Airshow on Tuesday, taking the tally past $21 billion and underscoring hopes of a resurgence in the aviation sector after a painful two-year downturn. The deals at Farnborough, considered a barometer of the aviation and defense industry along with its sister show at Le Bourget in Paris in alternate years, show demand is reviving globally. “This is a good time to buy aircraft,” said Flybe Chief Executive Jim French after unveiling a deal to buy 35 Embraer 175 jets, worth $1.3 billion, from the Brazilian manufacturer. French said the company will use the purchases, which will be delivered between 2011 and 2017 to fund the regional carrier's expansion plans. In a further sign of the market's health, Ireland-based leasing company Avolon, which was created just two months ago, ordered 12 Boeing 737-8 jetliners in a deal worth $921 million. Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Jim Albaugh said the deal showed how rapidly demand was rebounding in the wake of the global financial crisis. In other deals announced Tuesday, luxury carrier Vistajet ordered six new aircraft from Canadian manufacturer Bombardier in an agreement worth $277 million. Bombardier said it had also received firm orders for four Global Express XRS jets from undisclosed customers based in Russia, valued at a total of $213 million. French-Italian regional turboprop manufacturer ATR agreed sales worth $663 million at catalog prices with Brazilian carrier Azul Linhas Aereas and Air Lease Corporation for 30 ATR 72-600 turboprops. ATR also announced a deal for six ATR 72-500s worth $128 million, but did not disclose the buyer. Airbus did not announce any new firm orders on Tuesday, but said Hong Kong Airlines intends to buy fifteen of its A350s and ten A330-200s with a new net value of $2.8 billion. More than 1,000 exhibitors from 38 countries have signed up for Farnborough, with delegations from Egypt, Taiwan and Morocco attending for the first time. Organizers also cited stronger interest from major players China and Russia. Analysts don't expect anything close to the record-breaking $88.7 billion worth of deals announced at Farnborough in 2008, but the gathering has already exceeded the slow orders for commercial planes at Le Bourget last year, at around $7 billion. The global industry is expected to return to a profit this year after a he huge loss of $9.4 billion in 2009. Asia and North America are expected to lead the recovery, with Europe lagging behind. Strikes at some airlines, the debt crisis and the volcanic ash cloud that caused major disruptions this spring are all hurting Europe's recovery. Airbus chief salesman John Leahy said his company and Boeing survived the downturn better than in the past because they anticipated a slump in orders and let their backlogs build up without increasing production.
