Boeing touts strategy as rival Airbus basks in big jet deal LE BOURGET, France (AP) =97 As its European rival basked in a record-setting= =20 order for 41 planes, Boeing laid out its vision for retaking the lead in=20 the fiercely competitive aviation industry: the newly christened 7E7=20 Dreamliner. At the Paris Air Show, Boeing executives confidently predicted= =20 the fuel-efficient 200-seat jet is what customers will really want once the= =20 aviation gloom lifts. But it was Airbus' signing of a $12.5 billion order=20 for 41 jets =97 including the much-heralded superjumbo =97 from the= fast-rising=20 Gulf carrier Emirates that stole the limelight at the show. Airbus=20 officials hailed the deal as the largest purchase of widebody jets, both in= =20 price and number of planes. It included 20 four-engine A340s and 21 A380=20 superjumbos =97 Airbus' planned rival to the Boeing 747. "This will be our= =20 big order of the show," John Leahy, head of Airbus' commercial aircraft=20 division, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a news conference=20 at the eight-day event. Including earlier deals, Dubai-based Emirates has=20 ordered 43 A380s =97 by far the largest of any airline customer =97 and= expects=20 to lease two more. The double-decker jet is to enter service by 2006. With= =20 the announcement, Emirates offered new hope for a downtrodden industry=20 following the Sept. 11 attacks, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the SARS=20 virus outbreak and global economic malaise. Airbus has received 116 firm=20 orders from eight customers for the A380. The order was a new vote of confidence for Airbus' vision for the=20 superjumbo. Boeing executives, however, insist the aviation market cannot=20 absorb the hundreds of A380s Airbus hopes to deliver. "They'll want to=20 celebrate now while they can, before they start having to deliver them (the= =20 A380s)," said Randy Baseler, vice president for marketing at Boeing's=20 commercial jets division. In its annual industry forecast released Monday,= =20 Boeing predicted airlines will invest $1.9 trillion in new commercial jets= =20 over the next 20 years, but only 26 percent will have two aisles or more.=20 Only 4 percent would be as large or bigger than the 747. The Chicago-based= =20 company projected the worldwide fleet of planes would double to more than=20 34,000 jets by 2022. Boeing also presented its vision for the industry once= =20 the economic picture brightens. In a challenge to Airbus' superjumbo focus,= =20 Boeing executives insisted their planned 200-seat Dreamliner is what=20 airline customers will be looking for. The 7E7, expected to begin operating in 2008, is the fuel-efficient heir to= =20 the ill-fated Sonic Cruiser Boeing championed at the Paris show two years=20 ago as a speedy commercial jet. The project was shelved last year after=20 Boeing determined its customers wanted fuel efficiency more than speed.=20 "We've made great progress in our conversion from the Cruiser to the more=20 fuel-efficient version," said Mike Bair, who heads the 7E7 program. The=20 Dreamliner is designed to be made almost entirely with advanced composite=20 materials, which are lighter and more resistant to moisture than aluminum,= =20 Bair said. It is expected to be about 20 percent more fuel efficient than=20 current jet models. Among other technological advances, the 7E7 is to have= =20 wider seats, humidified air in the cabin, and an eye-catching fuselage=20 design, Bair said. Boeing unveiled the name on Sunday, based on the results= =20 of an online poll. Boeing expects there is a market for between 2,000 and=20 3,000 7E7s over the next 20 years. The biannual air show, which has=20 traditionally been a major venue for dealmaking, first took place in 1909 = =97=20 six years after the Wright Brothers' historic flight. The show ends Sunday. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************