Article from BTNews 18 JULY 2016
Farnborough orders bonanza
Organisers of Farnborough 2016 on Friday hailed the show a major success as the five trade days ended with orders and options totalling US$123.9bn – against industry expectations.
FIA’s business tracker recorded a total of 856 aircraft valued at US$93.98bn, 1,407 engines valued at US$22.7bn and other business deals totalling £7.2bn.
The event was opened by outgoing prime minister David Cameron and Virgin Atlantic president Richard Branson with a fly past by the F-35 joint strike fighter flanked by the Red Arrows.
Major commercial aircraft deals over the week included Virgin Atlantic concluding an order for 12 Airbus A350-1000s and Air Asia signing-up for 100 Airbus A380neos (see details in this issue).
A major rainstorm ended things early on the first day, with the main exhibition hall springing a leak and all flying cancelled, but business at the show as a whole was brisk, with visitor numbers averaging around 20,000 a day.
Farnborough International chief executive Shaun Ormrod said: “The extreme weather brought some challenges this week, but didn’t stop exhibitors and visitors doing business.
“The halls were busy all week, which is really encouraging for the supply-chain industry. With these orders adding to the already large backlog, it seems the aerospace industry is going to be busy for years to come.”
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