LE BOURGET, France, 14 June 2005 — Qatar Airways gave a big boost to European planemaker Airbus yesterday, choosing its future mid-sized jet over a more established rival from Boeing as part of a mammoth $15 billion order plan.

Doha-based Qatar said it was close to signing a deal to buy up to 60 of Airbus’s new A350 jets worth $10.6 billion, and would also buy at least 20 of Boeing Co’s larger 777 planes for around $4.6 billion.

The massive deal revived what was threatening to be a lackluster Paris Air Show which has been dominated by a trade spat over planemaker subsidies rather than big deals.

Airbus chief Noel Forgeard said the planemaker now had enough commitments to proceed with building the A350, Airbus’s answer to Boeing’s 787 which has already racked up over 250 potential orders. The final decision rests with Airbus’ board, which has delayed a go-ahead until September.

In a further boost, Airbus said it planned to announce another order for its 555-seat A380 aircraft. The world’s biggest jetliner was the star attraction when it took to the skies above the Paris Air Show which was opened by French President Jacques Chirac, but Airbus has come under fire from customers in recent weeks by announcing a delay to deliveries.

However, Boeing hit back, saying it was looking to raise production of the 787 in 2008-09 to meet strong demand.

“The market place could eat up as many as we could produce,” Boeing’s 787 program head Mike Bair told a news conference.

The battle between Airbus and Boeing over mid-sized jets is becoming increasingly critical to both companies as the aerospace industry recovers from a slowdown that was exacerbated by the September 2001 attacks on the United States.

Randy Baseler, vice president of marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told Reuters in an interview that output from Boeing and Airbus was likely to fall around 400 aircraft short of demand over the next two years.

As a sign of what is at stake, Boeing and Airbus parent firm EADS are at the heart of a clash between the United States and the European Union which have made tit-for-tat complaints to the World Trade Organization, accusing one another of unfair state subsidies.

The two side delayed the immediate launch of WTO probes into the counter-claims, officials in Geneva said yesterday. Blocking the creation of panels at the first request is standard practice in WTO disputes and the move had been widely predicted.

Forgeard, who is also co-chief executive designate for EADS, said government loans were not critical to the 4.35 billion-euro cost of building the A350, but that EADS was not prepared to “spit on” legitimate sources of money.

Bair, meantime, reiterated his company’s objections to proposed European government aid for the A350.

“They (EADS) only have to pay it back if they sell airplanes. That’s the unique thing about it. If it’s a commercial flop, they’re not obligated to pay them (European governments) back,” he said.

Qatar said it planned to triple in size over five years as it capitalizes on a boom in development and tourism in the Middle East.

“The Airbus A350 will be the ultimate choice for the future of the airline,” Qatar Chief Executive Akbar Al-Baker told Reuters.

Qatar will take a mix of Airbus A350-800 and A350-900 planes for delivery from 2010 to 2015.

The Boeing planes will include the 777-200LR and 777-300ER with deliveries between 2007 and 2010.

General Electric Co. makes engines used on both the A350 and 777.

Al-Baker told Reuters he expected the orders to be signed within “days” or “weeks”.