Airbus not expecting big sales at show

Tom Enders, the chief executive of Airbus, says he doesn’t expect big orders at this month’s Paris Air Show. Enders said Airbus must keep expanding abroad to stay competitive and leave national sentiment behind. “Airbus will only remain competitive in the long term if it develops resources and markets globally and becomes a genuinely international company, with development and production also in the U.S., China, India and elsewhere.” Airbus has already set up an aircraft assembly line in China, and India has pressed Airbus for a production line there as well. But Airbus has been busy in domestic restructuring, aircraft production delays and union opposition to offshoring. (Source: Liverpool Daily Post, 06/03/09) Gulf Coast note: Airbus parent EADS hopes to win an Air Force contract for tankers and assemble them in Mobile, Ala. It also plans to build cargo aircraft in Mobile if it wins.