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Airbus signs Yemenia deal as Dubai tally nears $85 bln

DUBAI - Airbus signed a $2 billion order with Yemen’s Yemenia for 10 A350 XWB planes on Tuesday as deals at the Dubai Air Show neared $85 billion, dominated by Airbus and archrival Boeing Co.

Both plane-makers are on track for a record-breaking year as demand from surging new markets, including Gulf Arab states, powers demand for new models such as the A350 and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

The region’s growth was demonstrated on Sunday when Dubai-based airline Emirates placed an order for planes from Airbus and Boeing potentially worth $35 billion -- the industry’s biggest ever deal.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, formed less than two years ago, said on Monday it would buy 100 planes each from Boeing and Airbus worth over $26 billion as it launches a new aircraft leasing company from scratch.

The Middle East’s largest low-cost carrier, Air Arabia, along with Saudi Arabian Airlines and Oman Air have announced deals for Airbus planes worth a combined $6 billion this week.

Such demand has put the Dubai Air Show among the world’s biggest biennial aerospace events, alongside shows held in Paris and Farnborough, England.

Still, Boeing tends to announce new business when it occurs rather than saving it for air shows. It announced a $5.2 billion order from Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific last week, for example.

Airbus said it had slipped ahead of Boeing this week in their battle for annual orders, a race Boeing won in 2006 for the first time in six years.