Orders reach $25 billion so far at Farnborough Airshow as Day 3 gets under way

Farnborough Airshow orders reach $25 bln so far

FARNBOROUGH, England — Airbus says it has sold six long-range A330-200s worth $1.1 billion at catalog prices to national carrier Garuda Indonesia.

The deal was announced Wednesday in a press conference with CEOs Emirsyah Satar of Garuda and Tom Enders of Airbus.

The Indonesian carrier will take delivery of the planes from the fourth quarter of 2012. They will be used for destinations across the Asia Pacific region, as well as the Middle East and Europe.

Airlines often negotiate substantial discounts to the listed price.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

FARNBOROUGH, England (AP) — Aircraft orders at the Farnborough International Airshow this week have reached $25 billion, indicating a rapid recovery in the sector, and more are expected on Wednesday.

Excitement about the strong start for the event has been dampened by a depressed outlook for defense sales, as many governments are cutting spending as economies recover from recession. But commercial plane orders have so far shown a rebound in global demand.

Air Lease Corporation has been the star buyer, dividing orders for 115 planes worth $8.6 billion among Boeing, Airbus and French-Italian regional turboprop manufacturer ATR.

More than 1,000 exhibitors from 38 countries have signed up for Farnborough, with delegations from Egypt, Taiwan and Morocco attending for the first time. Organizers also cited stronger interest from China and Russia.

Analysts don’t expect anything close to the record-breaking $88.7 billion worth of deals announced at Farnborough in 2008, but the gathering has already exceeded the slow orders for commercial planes at Le Bourget last year, at around $7 billion.

The global airline industry is expected to return to a profit this year after a loss of $9.4 billion in 2009. Asia and North America are expected to lead the recovery, with Europe lagging behind.