* GE announces delay with engine for new Boeing 777X
* Airbus to announce close to 200 A321XLR orders -sources
* Lufthansa profit warning emphasises sector gloom
(Updates with new headline)
By Laurence Frost and Eric M. Johnson
PARIS, France, June 17 (Reuters) - Boeing suffered a fresh
setback at the opening of the Paris Airshow on Monday as the
U.S. planemaker's engine supplier revealed a delay affecting its
all-new 777X jet, while Airbus targeted the middle of the market
with a rival plane.
GE Aviation GE.N said it had found unexpected wear in a
component for the GE9X engine it is making for Boeing's 777X,
the world's largest twin-engined jet, forcing a delay of several
months while it redesigns and tests the part. The aerospace industry's biggest annual event, which
alternates with Britain's Farnborough Airshow, is traditionally
a slugging match between Airbus and Boeing in the $150 billion a
year commercial aircraft market.
But this year Boeing BA.N is still grappling with the
grounding of its top-selling 737 MAX aircraft in March after two
deadly crashes, while European arch-rival Airbus AIR.PA is
dealing with the fallout from a long-running corruption scandal.
Airbus used the show to launch a long-range version of its
A321neo jet, aiming to carve out new routes for airlines with
smaller planes and steal a march on Boeing's owns plans for
another potential all-new jet, the NMA.
"We can fly from north-eastern Asia into south Asia, from
the Middle East to Bali or from Japan deep into Australia, and
so on," Airbus chief salesman Christian Scherer said.
"It is therefore the lowest-risk investment for airlines on
these kinds of routes."
Leasing company Air Lease Corp became the first customer of
the new aircraft - the A321XLR - lining up for 27 as part of a
deal for 100 Airbus planes.
Sources familiar with the matter said Airbus was trying to
assemble close to 200 orders or conversions to the new model as
it chases deals with carriers including American Airlines,
JetBlue, Cebu Air and Frontier Airlines owner Indigo Partners.
Despite a flurry of delegates dashing in golf carts between
parked jetliners, missiles and spy planes, this year's gathering
appeared relatively subdued, with a profit warning from
Lufthansa adding to trade tensions and slowing economies.
French President Emmanuel Macron watched as France and
Germany unveiled a sleek, dagger-shaped mockup of a new fighter
plane the two close European allies plan to develop.
Analysts expect anything from 400 to 800 commercial aircraft
orders and commitments at the show, compared with 959 at
Farnborough last year, though it can be hard to identify truly
new business against firmed-up commitments and switched models.
Boeing commercial airplanes boss Kevin McAllister said it
was premature to predict any delays to the 777X programme. The
planemaker is targeting a maiden flight this year and entry into
service the next.
Gulf airline Emirates has said it expects the first plane in
June 2020. Flight tests often take more than a year.
SIZE VS COMFORT
The Airbus A321XLR will be the longest-range narrow-body
jetliner and arrives as airlines look to maximise the
flexibility of more fuel-efficient, single-aisle aircraft.
Its range of up to 4,700 nautical miles - about 15% more
than the previous A321LR - will leapfrog the out-of-production
Boeing 757 and nudges it into the long-jump category occupied by
more costly wide-body jets.
The A321XLR also eats into a range category targeted by the
possible NMA mid-market, twin-aisle jet under review by Boeing.
"It does provide a very effective airplane for many of the
same routes as the NMA, and it does so many years earlier," Air
Lease CEO John Plueger said of the new Airbus jet.
But there is a debate over whether passengers will enjoy
flying longer distances in medium-haul planes.
Airbus did not give a price for the A321XLR. The current
A321neo has a list price of $129.5 million.
Boeing Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg on Sunday said the
A321XLR would only "scratch an edge" of the market segment
targeted by the NMA. But Air Lease founder Steven Udvar-Hazy, a
doyen of the leasing industry, said the NMA project remained "a
little bit in cold storage" as long as the MAX grounding lasted.
He added that Boeing expected to announce orders for
wide-body jets at the Paris show but its main focus at the event
was safety, with executives taking turns to apologise for the
MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.
"This is the most trying of times," Boeing's McAllister told
a press briefing.
"But without a doubt this is a pivotal moment for all of us.
It's a time to capture learnings. It's a time to be
introspective. And it's a time for us to make sure accidents
like this never happen again."
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TAKE A LOOK-Paris Airshow Boeing, Raytheon, UTC shares https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ip8dvj
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