Does Airbus need some of Boeing's Trump-style advocacy?

While Trump celebrates the success of his champion Boeing, there's a distinct lack of high-profile voices speaking up for Airbus, but the European company has already won the order book battle, experts told Euronews.

“The battle today is more on the operational and delivery front than on securing new orders, because the order book is already full,” Pascal Fabre, a consultant with AlixPartners told Euronews, adding: “For Airbus’s A320 and A350, there are virtually no delivery slots available before 2030.”

Airbus has currently 8,716 orders unfilled or outstanding while Boeing has 6,531.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signposted a new $8 billion order signed by Uzbekistan for Boeing aircraft, hailing it on his Truth Social platform as “a GREAT deal”.

This year's shaping up to be a bumper one for orders by the US aircraft manufacturer, with rumours of a new contract to be announced this week with Turkey, and following Trump's trip to Qatar in May, which also resulted in a $96 billion order.

Fabre downplayed the significance of these Boeing 'gets' however, noting that many customers rely on both manufacturers.

“Many orders to Boeing are placed by states or state-owned companies, which alternate between Airbus and Boeing. This is the case for Qatar, Turkey, and China,” he said.

So far this year, Boeing's received 725 orders and Airbus 600.

Lobbying efforts paid off during French President Emmanuel Macron's recent official visit in May to Vietnam, when Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air announced its intention to order twenty Airbus A330-900s, for a total amount of €7 billion.

In June, LOT Polish Airlines also placed an order for 40 aircraft from the European aerospace champion, marking the first time that Poland’s national carrier has bought planes from Airbus, amid Polish concerns about security support from the US.

In July, Ireland-based aircraft leasing company Avolon set its sights on 90 Airbus aircraft, for an estimated €12.4 billion.

Boeing suffering delivery problems

The reputation of the US champion is suffering due to its delivery problems.

“Trump touting all of these deals is a good sign for Boeing, but Boeing also has to actually deliver those orders they've received, which they largely have not been able to do in the last five to ten years,” Grant Holve, expert at aerospace market intelligence provider Forecast International told Euronews. 

According to French liberal MEP Christophe Grudler, industry specialist within his parliamentary group RENEW, this explains all the noise made by Trump.

"Boeing needs to do some PR, given that confidence in its aircraft is at an all-time low,” Grudler told Euronews, adding: “Airbus planes continue to sell well.”

The MEP also minimised the Airbus/Boeing rivalry by pointing out the interdependence of the two manufacturers’ production chains, which led the US to exempt European aircraft from tariffs as part of the trade agreement reached with the EU in July.