Saudi companies order 65 aircraft at Paris Air Show
LE BOURGET: European plane maker Airbus announced Monday orders for 65 aircraft from two Saudi companies, in the first major deals at this year's Paris Air Show. Riyadh Air, an airline founded in 2023, placed a 'firm' order for 25 wide-body, long-range A350-1000 aircraft. The deal would be worth more than $9 billion under 2018 catalogue prices — which Airbus has since phased out as final sale prices vary according to contract terms and version of aircraft. The Riyadh Air deal could rise to 50 planes, Airbus said.
Saudi aircraft leasing company AviLease placed a separate order for 30 single-aisle A320neo jets and 10 A350F freighters in a deal worth several billion dollars. While Airbus announced deals at the opening of the air show at Le Bourget, its US rival Boeing was focusing on the investigation of last week's crash of a Dreamliner operated by Air India. 'Our focus is on supporting our customers, rather than announcing orders at this air show,' a Boeing spokeswoman told AFP at the trade fair outside Paris. Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg said last week he was cancelling plans to attend the biennial event to focus on the probe.
'Supporting customers'
US group Boeing said Monday it would focus on supporting its customers at the Paris Air Show instead of the traditional announcements of plane orders, in the aftermath of Air India's 787 Dreamliner crash. The sales rivalry between Boeing and European aerospace giant Airbus usually drives the headlines as the world's top civilian planemakers announce many of their biggest orders at the air show in Le Bourget.
But Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg said last week he was cancelling plans to attend the biennial event to focus on the investigation of the Air India crash. 'Our focus is on supporting our customers, rather than announcing orders at this air show,' a Boeing spokeswoman told AFP at the trade fair outside Paris. The London-bound Dreamliner crashed shortly after take off in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing 241 passengers and crew and another 38 on the ground. One passenger survived.
LE BOURGET: An Airbus Caracal H225M military helicopter is exhibited at the Airbus pavillon as part of the 55th edition of the International Paris Air Show at the Paris–Le Bourget Airport on June 16, 2025. - AFP
Zionist weapons booths
Also, geopolitical tensions roiled the opening of the Paris Air Show on Monday as French authorities sealed off Zionist weapons industry booths amid the conflicts in Iran and Gaza, a move that Zionists condemned as 'outrageous'. The decision added drama to the major aerospace industry event, which was already being held under the shadow of last week's deadly crash of Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Black walls were installed around the stands of five Zionist defense firms at the trade fair in Le Bourget, an airfield on the outskirts of Paris. The booths displayed 'offensive weapons' that could be used in Gaza — in violation of agreements with Zionist authorities, a French government source told AFP. The companies — (Zionist) Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Uvision, Elbit and Aeronautics — make drones and guided bombs and missiles.
A Zionist exhibitor wrote a message in yellow chalk on one of the walls, saying the hidden defense systems 'are protecting (the Zionist) state these days. The French government, in the name of discrimination is trying to hide them from you!' President Isaac Herzog said he was shocked by the 'outrageous' closure of the pavilions and said the situation should be 'immediately corrected'. '(Zionist) companies have signed contracts with the organizers... it's like creating a (Zionist) ghetto,' he said on French television channel LCI. The Zionist defense ministry said in a statement that the 'outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations'.
'The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Zionist offensive weapons from an international exhibition — weapons that compete with French industries,' it said. 'This is particularly striking given Zionist technologies' impressive and precise performance in Iran.' Zionists launched surprise strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites on Friday, killing top commanders and scientists, prompting Tehran to hit back with a barrage of missiles. The presence of Zionist firms at Le Bourget, though smaller than in the past, was already a source of tension before the start of the Paris Air Show, because of the conflict in Gaza.
A French court last week rejected a bid by NGOs to ban Zionist companies from Le Bourget over concerns about 'international crimes'. Local lawmakers from the Seine-Saint-Denis department hosting the event were absent during French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's visit to the opening of the air show in protest over the Zionist presence. 'Never has the world been so disrupted and destabilized,' Bayrou said at a roundtable event, urging nations to tackle challenges 'together, not against each other'. — AFP
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