Tidy turnout for Airbus/EADS extravaganza

PE is at the annual Airbus/EADS press conference in Paris

I’m in Paris for the annual Airbus/EADS press conference and it never fails to surprise me just how many journalists come to this event. There are more than 120 media organisations in attendance including major newspapers such as the Financial Times, along with dozens of specialist aviation and engineering magazines. Then there are the television news crews, all of whom jostle manically for exclusive interviews with Airbus/EADS executives once the main speeches have been delivered from the rostrum.

The media interest in this event is a reflection of just how important Airbus/EADS is to the economies of many European states. The companies provide high-salary employment in the UK, Germany, France and Spain, to name but a few. And the nature of the programmes it is involved with means that Airbus/EADS is one of the few engineering-related companies that are always guaranteed to make headlines, in papers, on TV, and across the Internet. 

This year is no exception – there is plenty to talk about. It was an Airbus A380 operated by Qantas that suffered a failure of one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines over Indonesia in November last year, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing in Singapore.  The ongoing investigation into that incident has ramifications for airlines across the globe and the incident is likely to impact A380 production schedules over the coming months. And there has also been an update on the much-delayed and over-budget A400M military aircraft programme, which has suffered from a litany of technical problems.

But there is also plenty of good news to report from the event. Airbus has announced that India’s largest low-cost carrier, IndiGo, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 180 A320 aircraft, representing what it says is the largest jet order in aviation history. That will provide plenty of work in European factories over the next couple of years.

At the heart of everything Airbus/EADS designs and builds are its engineers, based primarily at sites in Bristol and North Wales. And that’s why PE is in attendance in Paris – to talk to the kinds of people who can give an inside track. So keep an eye out for the next printed edition of the magazine which will contain a more in-depth analysis of exactly what’s been going on out here.