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Farnborough: Orders slowed to a trickle and Boeing announced a problem with the software on the brakes of its yet-to-fly 787 Dreamliner, adding to a sombre mood on the second morning of the Farnborough Air Show.
The orders were thin in comparison with unprecedented demand in the past three years at similar air shows, with airlines reeling from triple-digit oil prices and many cutting capacity.
Dozens of airlines are struggling to raise finance to stay in business let alone invest in new fleets, but this is not the case for Gulf carriers who shelled out $25 billion for new planes on Monday, led by Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways.
"It is not over yet," said veteran air show observer Howard Wheeldon of BGC Partners, who expects 280 plane sales this week.
"My main concerns are that this is as good as it gets. The Middle East is resilient, but from now on aircraft makers and airliners will have to batten down the hatches and manufacturers will have to set the ground for some likely cuts in production."
Financing concerns
An even bigger concern for capital markets relates to the airline industry's ability to finance itself, he added.
Boeing and European rival Airbus conceded this week they would be forced to offer some financing for airlines, although the European company is particularly reluctant to do so.
Boeing and Airbus are producing at full speed to meet a record order backlog that each brought into the show, but both face production delays on key aircraft programmes.
The head of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner programme said verifying software in the brake control system wa the latest problem holding back the first test flight.
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