The fight goes on

Aircraft maker Boeing pocketed some significant sales recently, with Cathay Pacific buying 12, and Emirates a whopping 42 of the long-haul 777’s, the Wall Street Journal reported.

That’s a big win for the Chicago based manufacturer.

Not only will rival Airbus be mourning the potential sale of 54 aircraft to these two airlines, but also the fact that it is unlikely to sell many of its 777 competitor plane to them in the near future.

More and more, airlines are following the lead of the ‘no-frills’ model and running a more uniform fleet of aircraft, as this is easier and cheaper to maintain. So once they have opted for one type of plane, they are unlikely to purchase the equivalent version from another company, as that would require familiarizing staff with that model too.

In the past, a significant cost to the legacy airlines has been the maintenance as well as decreased flexibility of operating a multi-type fleet.

So, the gloves will no doubt remain out, as both Boeing and Airbus vie for business from Singapore Airlines and Qantas, who are expected to make significant orders shortly.