This year’s Paris will be special in that the home team Airbus, will be celebrating half a century of aerospace innovation.
A full line up. 50 years ago Airbus had an idea for one aircraft - the A300 and an uncertain future. (Airbus)
With a new CEO Guillaume Faury having taken over from Tom Enders earlier this year. Gazing at its presence now and its product line that spans UAVs, helicopters, to fighters and airliners, it is difficult to imagine how much of a ‘close-run’ thing Airbus’s mere existence was in the early days. Sluggish sales to begin with, political in-fighting among national partners and fierce competition from across the Atlantic meant that its success was not assured in the ‘sporty game’ of building and selling commercial aircraft.
Today it has transformed itself into a global enterprise and shares the airliner duopoly with arch-rival Boeing, having seen off the latest new entrant (Bombardier) by taking over its CSeries and rebranding it as the A220. One bittersweet aspect is this will be the first Le Bourget after the company made the decision to end production of its flagship A380. While some may mourn the passing of this quiet giant, the willingness of Airbus to axe its flagship superjumbo after such a short career is oddly, a positive sign of its new hard-headed business maturity.
Airbus will be exhibiting a wide range of aircraft at the show, including an A330neo, A350-1000 and an A220, together with helicopters and military aircraft – along with an increased focus on new technology, aftermarket services and the personal transport market.
While we are unlikely to see the John Leahy-sized megadeals at the show, Airbus may be saving up some surprises for this 50th anniversary show.