A380 VIP headed for the Gulf

Shweta Jain
Business Reporter

January 29, 2007
Airbus's first A380 VIP aircraft is expected to land in the Middle East shortly, according to a senior Airbus official.
“We are talking to two potential buyers, one of which is in the Middle East, for the VIP aircraft in the A380 category. That would be the first A380 VIP aircraft in the world. It will be a private aircraft but we cannot share any more details,” Richard Gaona, Airbus vice president for Executive and Private Aviation, told Emirates Today.
Meanwhile, the France based plane manufacturer signed a $130 million (Dh477.4m) deal yesterday for two Airbus SAS A320s with the Royal Air Force of Oman.
"Of all Airbus corporate jet sales, 20 to 30 percent sales are in the Middle East. But I do not know who is leading in the region — Airbus or Boeing. It is difficult to classify. People make all sorts of claims," said David Velupillai, Airbus' marketing director for Executive and Private Aviation.
The France based plane manufacturer has sold 80 aircraft of the ACJ (Airbus corporate jetliners) family so far worldwide. These include the A320, the ACJ (which comes from the A319 and the A318 (including the A318 Elite).
And according to Gaona, of the 40 wide-bodied aircraft (A330, A340, A300 and A310) sold so far worldwide, the Middle East accounts for about 70 percent of the sales.
While the UAE is a key customer for the ACJ category, Saudi Arabia, as Gaona puts it, is the "biggest" customer for the ACJs in the region, accounting for "60 per cent" of the total GCC market.
"In the ACJ categories, we believe that the market will grow and the demand should be around 30 aircraft a year, worldwide. On the big wide-bodied aircraft (the A330s, A340s and the A380), however, it is difficult to make projections," said Gaona.
Airbus, meanwhile, claims to have been doubling sales for corporate jets in the Middle East since 2004. "The indicator for us in this market is how we are doing against the Boeing Business Jets. We have sold more aircraft than Boeing as corporate jets in each of the last three years, worldwide. And last year, we won two-thirds of the orders in competition with Boeing for the large corporate jets," said Velupillai.
The planemaker further said it has also won two new customers for VIP versions of its ultra long-haul A340s—one for an A340-500 and one for an A340-300. The company refused to identify the customers. Airbus would be announcing two more orders for the A340s today in Dubai, as a part of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (Mebaa) 2007 conference.