The Dubai-based firm slashed an order for 100 Airbus
passenger jets by 25 percent in volume terms, shedding 18 orders for
narrow-body A320 planes and seven orders for A350-900 mid-sized jets, July
figures released by the European planemaker showed.
The move brings to more than $8 billion the catalog value
of DAE cancellations, totaling 50 aircraft, revealed in Airbus and Boeing data
published in the past 24 hours.
"I have no comment on that," Mohammed
Al-Zarooni, recently appointed chairman of state-owned DAE, said when contacted
by telephone.
Airbus and Boeing declined to comment on the
cancellations.
Leasing companies were hard hit during the financial
crisis though some returned with bulk orders for narrow-body planes at last
months' Farnborough trade show, which delivered unexpectedly robust evidence of
an economic turnaround.
Excluding the effect of cancellations, Airbus said its
cumulative 2010 orders jumped to 286 planes by the end of July from 131 planes
in the first half of the year.
Deliveries reached 298 aircraft. The EADS unit targets
over 400 orders and a record 500 deliveries this year.
There have been several specialist industry reports that
part of DAE's order portfolio would be transferred to Dubai's Emirates airline,
which ordered 30 more 777s at Farnborough.
Al-Zarooni's predecessor as DAE chairman was Sheikh Ahmed
bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman of The Emirates Group.
On Thursday, Boeing data revealed cancellations for 25
jets worth over a total of $5 billion at catalog prices. Comparisons with
previously published data indicated the cuts came from DAE.
DAE had ordered the 15 787-8 Dreamliners and 10 777-300ER
aircraft in 2007, at the peak of a global order boom.
Boeing's latest backlog did not include any such
wide-body passenger jets for the leasing and repair firm. It did, however, have
91 unfilled DAE orders for narrow-body jets and freighters.
DAE also still has 52 Airbus A320 planes and 23
A350-900s, designed to compete with the Boeing Dreamliner, on order with a
total list value of $10 billion at current prices.
The Director General of Dubai's Department of Finance,
Abdelrahman Al-Saleh, said recently DAE was in negotiations with Boeing and
Airbus on its total of some 220 plane orders.
Airbus Sales Chief John Leahy said at Farnborough that it
was "no secret" that DAE was facing disruption over its orders.
After adjusting for total cancellations in the past
month, Airbus reported a net total of 245 new orders in the first seven months
of the year, up from 117 by the end of June.
The data leaves Boeing ahead of its rival in the race for
2010 orders as the industry exits recession, though it still ranks in second
place behind Airbus in terms of production.
Boeing said it had received total orders for 319 planes
between January and July, and a net total of 255 planes after adjusting for
cancellations. The net orders include 229 narrow-body Boeing 737 short-haul and
medium-haul planes.
