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The Paris Air Show begins
The Paris Air Show has opened on Sunday at Le Bourget, just outside the French capital, with transatlantic tensions flaring between industry giants Airbus and Boeing.
The Paris Air Show has opened on Sunday at Le Bourget, just
outside the French capital, with transatlantic tensions
flaring between industry giants Airbus and Boeing.
Over a quarter of a million visitors are expected at this
years Paris Air Show which has
opened at Le Bourget Airport.
On the opening day transatlantic tensions flared, as Boeing Co
(BA.N) accused European rival Airbus of standing in the way of
a high-profile U.S. aerospace merger and warned of trade
friction.
Fierce commercial competitors Airbus and Boeing often trade
barbs.
But at Le Bourget, their battle is being coloured by political
strains between Europe and the United States.
Boeing claim Airbus had opposed a $42 billion (USD) tie up
between the U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co and
Honeywell International Inc.
That merger appeared near collapse after General Electric said
it would make no more concessions to the European Commission,
which said the deal is flawed and would hurt competition.
Uncertainty surrounding the GE/Honeywell deal overshadowed
other issues and events on the air show's first day.
In excess of 200 aircraft have been rolled out
Among the special attractions are; the Global Hawk, a
pilotless American endurance plane which is the size of a
business jet.
And the Ukrainian-built Antonov 225 the world's biggest
carrier which can transport 250 tonnes of cargo.
Bureau Report
Bureau Report