PARIS: Contracts worth billions of dollars were signed during the weeklong Paris Air Show that concluded on Sunday. Over 1905 exhibitors from 46 countries took part, and some 200 aircraft were on display. President Jacques Chirac witnessed the flight of long awaited mammoth double-decker airliner A380, the unquestionable luminary of the 46th Paris Air Show, as it gracefully made its first public appearance. Twenty other new aircraft, including the Boeing 777-200 long-range, were displayed. Also marking their first appearance were the Dassault Falcon 7X, Gulfstream G450 and G550 business jets, Embraer’s new 195 regional aircraft and Kazam Helicopters Mi-38.

Other military airplanes were the new Boeing 767-300 Tanker and Aeromacchi’s M346 trainer, Dassault Mirage and Rafale Combat aircraft, the rival Eurofighter Typhoon and Sukhoi Su-27; the space sector included Europe’s Galileo project, the Huygens space probe, Helios II and Syracuse satellites; (Helicopter) Eurocopter, Bell, HAL; (UAVs) Global Hawk, Hernes, Eagle Eye, Sperwer, UCAV, LUNA. Recreational aviation was showcased in the Galilee area of the exhibition centre.

Since fatal accidents in earlier shows had forced the organizers to ban formation flights, solo-flying displays took place every afternoon with commentaries in French and English. This year the Mirage 4 fighter made its final flight before being retired.

Pakistan was amongst the six new countries that participated. Other newcomers were the Irish Republic, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Slovak Republic. India displayed the DHRUV helicopter and the HJT-38 aircraft just in front of Israel’s vast enclosure.

The Americans, earlier annoyed by French policy towards Iraq, came back in a big way.

Since the demands for military material has decreased in the last many years, the aerospace industry was inclined to cater to commercial consumers rather than military buyers in order to remain in business.

Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard claimed that they had more than enough orders for the A350 to launch the plane — Spanish carrier Air Europa had ordered 10 A350s; Doha-based Qatar Airways had decided to buy 60 Airbus A350 planes worth $10.6 billion; Kuwait’s Alafco is purchasing 12 Airbus A350s costing $1.8 billion; and G.E Commercial Aviation Services is buying 10 A350s. India’s Jet Airways is adding 10 Airbus A330s ($1.5 billion) to its fleet, and Singapore’s low cost Tiger Airways had opted to purchase 8 A320s.

Qatar Airways is acquiring 20 Boeing 777s worth $4.6 billion; Lease Finance Corp has ordered 20 Boeing 737-700/800 and six 777-300; and India’s Jet Airways ten Boeing 777s and ten 737-800s ($2.5 billion). GE Commercial Aviation Services is buying 20 Boeing 737 ($1.1 billion) and GE is also getting 20 (190/195) planes from Embraer.

Air Caledonie has ordered two ATR 42-500s and one ATR 72-500 ($46 million). The Finnish Commuter Airlines is buying eight ATR 42-500 ($250 million). CCM Airlines is buying six ATR 72-500 ($105 million).

Rolls Royce got a $800-million order from Air China for Trent 700 aircraft engines designed for the airline’s new fleet of Airbus A330-200s. The US Navy got a training support services contract worth $800 million from L-3 Communications. CFM (General Electric/Snecma joint venture) received Malaysian Air Asia’s order of 129 engines worth $750 million. Goodrich Corp got a deal worth $350 to supply cargo systems for Boeing planes. Lufthansa Tecknik signed a hundred million dollar contract with Qatar Airways for maintenance, repair and overhaul. Air Asia is to buy CFM 56-5B6/P engines for its new A320-200 Airbus. MIG, that had a billion dollar jets order, got a contract to upgrade Slovakia Air Force’s combat jets MIG-29 to bring them to Nato standards.