The battle between Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Airbus continued in the skies over Paris this week -- although I suppose the real battle occurs in plush sales offices and five state restaurants throughout the city. Billions of dollars in aircraft orders are at stake, and the corporate dog-fighting appears to be intense. The most important competition is between Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and the A350 made by Airbus. These are roughly similar planes featuring twin engines and single aisles, and both are quieter and more efficient than earlier models. Going in to the Paris Air Show, Boeing had a considerable lead over Airbus in worldwide orders for its plane. As Douglas McIntyre noted earlier on BloggingStocks, as of last week, Boeing had over 600 orders for the 787, compared to a mere 13 for the A350.

Airbus has been in trouble lately, particularly with its new jumbo jet, the A380, which was designed to replace Boeing's 747. While there seems to be considerable interest in the new double-decker plane, the A380 has had so many problems that it isn't clear when it will be ready to fly. So Airbus is pushing the smaller A350 in the meantime. But it hasn't had much luck against the 787, at least until now.

So far, the Paris Air Show has been good to Airbus. According to today's Wall Street Journal [subscription], Airbus booked three large orders for the plane from Russia's Aeroflot, India's Kingfisher Airlines and Libya's Afriqiyah Airways, for a total of nearly 80 planes. This comes after Qatar Airlines' order of another 80 planes earlier in the week. The CEO of Airbus, John Leahy, said that he expected to receive more than 200 orders for the plane this year, and these new orders certainly make that seem like an achievable goal.

But Boeing has also seen some big orders in Paris. It just announced that International Lease Finance Corporation, the largest commercial jet leasing company in the world, has ordered 50 787s for its fleet. This means that the 787 has surpassed the $100 billion mark in orders, and secures Boeing's place as the global leader in commercial aircraft production.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) just got two more orders for its new carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner jet. At list price, these orders are worth more than $7 billion, although discounts are norm in the industry.

Air Canada said today it is increasing its original purchase of the 787 commercial aircraft by 23 planes, raising the total order to 37. Deliveries of the plane would start in 2010. The 23 planes carry a list price of about $3.7 billion. Air Canada also reduced its original Boeing 777 firm order by two.

Meanwhile, according to different sources, Virgin Atlantic Airways will also buy 15 planes valued at $2.8 billion at list prices with an option buy up to 24 Boeing 787s Dreamliners.
Virgin and Boeing also announced an environmental partnership that includes a joint biofuel demonstration aimed at developing sustainable fuel sources suitable for commercial jet engines and the aviation industry. The demonstration is being worked jointly with GE Aviation and Virgin Fuels.

Many 787 parts are made of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter than the metal usually used to build aircrafts, making it more fuel-efficient and resistant to corrosion. The Dreamliner uses 20% less fuel compared to similar sized airplanes and provides airlines with up to 45% more cargo revenue capacity. It is designed to have lower carbon emissions and quieter takeoffs and landings. There is also a new interior environment with higher humidity, wider seats and aisles, larger windows, and other conveniences. The Dreamliner is scheduled to make its first flight in August and to enter commercial service next year.

So far, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a big hit with 544 orders from 44 customers (not including today's announced orders). As BA shares reached a new 52-week high today, do they still have room to soar with its Dreamliner? Remember, Prudential upped its target on BA to $103 just yesterday.

While Airbus reports a $1 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2006, Boeing appears to be the frontrunner to replace American Airlines' fleet of 300 MD-80 planes. American CFO Tom Horton was quoted by Bloomberg News Friday saying that the airline will soon announce plans to upgrade their fleet, and he significantly made note of Boeing's ability to supply their 737-800 model quickly. American already flies 77 of the fuel-saving model.

The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) delivered 398 of the $66-75 million planes in 2006, trailing Airbus, who delivered 434 of their competing A320 model. However, Boeing currently has confirmed orders for 1,044, compared to 790 for Airbus.

As Boeing anticipates this whopper of an order, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the consortium that is Airbus, announced Friday a $1.1 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2006. The company has been hurt deeply by their inability to bring a new jumbo jet, the A380, to market. In the meantime, Boeing has booked gained an enormous lead in this sector, booking over 450 orders for its new superjumbo 787 Dreamliner.