Airbus Says Recession Over

Airbus pronounced the recession over from its point of view on Thursday, as it wrapped up the Farnborough Airshow with a total of USD$13 billion in firm orders.

The European planemaker confirmed it would exceed its order target for 2010 and said it was considering a fresh increase in production to meet an upswing in demand.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the recession is definitely over," sales chief John Leahy told a news conference after a string of deals mainly with leasing companies betting on an upturn.
"Liquidity is back in the market, traffic is back in the market and GDP growth is back," Leahy said. "It looks as though we have turned the corner and that is why we are seeing strong growth."
He said airline figures showed that premium traffic was rebounding after a slump during the financial crisis.
It went down when investment bankers and lawyers got fired, but they got hired back and planes are flying full again."
Chief executive Tom Enders said Airbus would sell "north of 400" planes in 2010 compared with a previous target up to 300.
He and Leahy said Airbus was considering further increases in its single-aisle production rate and may also increase wide-body production.
Several companies at the air show reported positive signs from the market but said economic signals also looked mixed.
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