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Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

.c The Associated Press

FARNBOROUGH, England (AP) - European aviation group Airbus clinched a sale of four passenger jets to Kingfisher Airlines of India, while rival Boeing Co. announced an order for two cargo jets to Air China.

The deals were announced Wednesday at the Farnborough International Air Show in southeastern England.

Airbus and Kingfisher signed a memorandum of understanding for four A320s and options on an additional eight, Airbus said. Airbus didn't disclose the purchase price.

The A320 has a list price of $63 million, according to an Airbus spokesman. That would imply a total order value of $756 million, including the options, but airlines normally negotiate discounts.

Kingfisher, part of the UB Group, is a startup carrier pitched at budget travelers in India. The deal came a day after Airbus landed an order worth more than $7 billion with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways.

Vijay Mallya, chairman of UB Group, said Kingfisher would fly to destinations throughout India and said he thought Kingfisher would probably order more planes in the next five years.

Boeing, meanwhile, said it received firm orders for two 747 freighters from Air China Cargo. Boeing didn't specify the contract price, but its executive vice president Toby Bright told reporters at Farnborough that Air China would make an official announcement in the next few days.

Chicago-based Boeing announced a $2.96 billion sale to Emirates Airline on Monday.

Boeing and its rival Airbus, headquartered in Toulouse, France, have both predicted a gradual pickup in the civil aviation market after three years of poor sales. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, along with the recent economic downturn throttled international air travel, but jet makers see this week's orders at Farnborough as an encouraging sign.

In another deal, Bombardier Inc. of Montreal, Canada, announced the sale of a Challenger 300 regional business jet to Qatar Airways. The airline is to take delivery in March 2005 and add the plane to the VIP fleet operated by its Amiri Flight Division. Bombardier didn't disclose the value of the order.

French defense and electronics company Thales SA announced separately that it has won a contract from Airbus' military division to supply avionics modules for the new A400M military transport plane. Thales didn't specify financial terms of the deal.

Thales said that Airbus has also selected it to provide cockpit displays for the A400M, but it didn't disclose the contract's value.



07/21/04 17:52 EDT
   
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